The Killing Moon
by LittleGreenWolf
Summary: All Sakura wanted to do was protect those she cares about, but now she finds herself more alone than ever before, and at the mercy of someone who has forgotten how to care. Sasu/Saku. Warning: Takes place after Chapter 480, so spoilers! Semi-canon.
1. Scattered Cherry Blossom

_Hi, and thanks for taking a look at my story. I haven't written a fanfiction in years, but you people here on have been entertaining me for years, so I only felt it right I try to contribute with my current addiction couple, Sasuke and Sakura. I warn you now, I'm a bit warped, and really don't even know where the idea for some of this stuff came from, but either way I warn there will probably be some smut at some point, and by some people's definitions this could be considered rather dark. Any fluff that may show up eventually will be a long time in coming. I have an outline written out for most of it, but again I haven't done this in years so please forgive any mistakes at how unorganized this story and my writing may be at times. I fully expect this to appear like a bad romance novel at some point or something, but I hope some of you find amusement in it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy._

**_Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I do it'd have tons more ninja romance in it._**

**_Warning: SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 480!_**

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**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 1: Scattered Cherry Blossom

_.桜花何が不足でちりいそぐ_

_sakura hana nani ga fusoku de chiri isogu_

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Sakura dashed through the dark forest, branches occasionally clinging to her cloak. Kiba, Lee, Sai and Akamaru were left behind to deal with the masked Akatsuki member that they had ran into as she continued after their goal. She no longer had Akamaru to lead her, but Kiba had insisted _he_ was very close, within a mile at least in the direction she was heading. The only question on her mind at the moment was if he would run away, or would he fight once she caught up to him.

The last time he had encountered anyone from Konoha he was all too willing to fight.

As she rushed into a small moonlit clearing, there, perched on a large branch hidden in the shadows of a tree he stood. She couldn't see him to clearly but the glowing red of his eyes and the silhouette was enough to send her already adrenaline pumped heart reeling. She watched him wide-eyed and still for a moment, but realizing her emotions she bit the inside of her mouth, forcing it to take on take on a solid, determined straight line as she glared at Sasuke. A rust flavor filled her mouth from blood. She could do this. She HAD to do this.

"Sasuke." She called, not even daring to blink.

"Sakura…" His monotone voice was barely a whisper, but she found she had to push back the shiver it caused to tickle up her spine. Giving into her emotions here could be fatal for her.

He was studying her, and she couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head. Was he recalling past memories, or was he thinking about the best way to deal with an 'annoyance'?

His face leveled to her before finally his voice filled the small clearing, this time slightly louder than before. "Where is the idiot?"

"Che. Like I'd tell a member of Akatsuki where he is." She spat, her glare intensifying.

"I'm not returning to Konoha with you, Sakura. I would think you would realize this by now."

_If only that was what I was here for_... but she stomped out the thought. "That, unfortunately, is no longer an option for you, Sasuke. You attacked a prestigious member of an allied village, and that isn't even touching upon what you did at the Kage Summit. Even if you wanted to come back, Danzo is making it an impossibility."

There was dead silence as she saw his eyes narrow at the mention of Danzo. It felt like minutes passed between them as not a sound was made. Finally, "Then why are you here?" broke the dead silence.

She steeled herself for the answer, and looked back up into his face, noticing his Sharingan was now off. "I'm here to protect those I care for from you." She responded as she threw her tan cloak off and threw it to the side. It it would only hinder her movement. Then she grabbed a kunai from her holster on her leg she took a defensive stance.

"Heh." She could just imagine the smirk on his face which was hidden by the shadows. "And what do you plan to do to protect your _precious people_, Sakura? Kill me?" He sneered.

Inside she could feel turmoil at the question. Just underneath she wanted to yell, beg, anything but this. Could she really kill the man she loved? _But Naruto_…

"If I have to." She glared. "I don't want to… but if you keep doing this, if you keep hurting everyone who ever cared for you, Naruto… he'd risk his life for you, the village… you need to stop Sauske-kun!"

A flash of movement and he was there in front of her, just a foot away. She took a step back in shock. The light of the full moon lit up his pale features, giving them a contrasting glow to his dark hair and clothing. He was gorgeous, even with obvious cuts, bruises, and blood from an earlier fight. He looked battle worn, and dangerous, yet she could never recall him being more attractive. As he was growing older, and more lost in his hate, he was just becoming even more stunning.

He was looking down at her past his straight thin nose, a smirk indeed on his thin lips. His eyes, though no longer red with his Kekkei Genkai, were ice cold and calculating.

"You really think you can kill me?" He questioned with the emotionless monotone, but the way he tilted his head when he asked added a taunt to it. He didn't think she could do it, and he took a stop closer as if to prove it, practically walking straight into the kunai she held in front of her. She was now desperately holding the kunai and trying with all her might not to shake or even take a step back with the sudden fear that took over as he got closer. She could now see a hint of amusement dancing in his coal eyes, and the smirk playing on his lips grew larger. He thought this was funny.

That smirk infuriated her, and quickly the fear that shook her turned to the shaking of anger. He couldn't take her seriously and he didn't understand the consequences of his actions, or he just didn't care. The boy she had loved had turned into this creature that just wanted to hurt everyone she held dear, himself included. Hurt those that would otherwise give him anything he asked.

What emotion she had tormenting inside her suddenly iced over, a new determination set in. She wanted to smash that smirk off his face.

She swung a fist intending on just doing just that. Unfortunately, but not unexpectantly, he flashed away before she made contact reminding her just how fast he was.

"You want to use the hand with the kunai if you want to kill me, Sa-ku-ra." He taunted now from behind, practically whispering in her ear. She spun around with a roundhouse kick, spinning on the ball of her foot while infusing the other with chakra. She made contact as he attempted to block. That was a mistake on his part, and a bit of a smile pulled at her lips at actually landing a hit on the Uchiha.

The impact sent him flying into a tree through some brush about fifty yards back into the shadows of the forest. A sound of a large crack from the tree she sent him into filled the forest, causing everything to turn silent. Not a bird or insect could be heard.

"I don't need a kunai to kill you, Sasuke." She replied.

Sakura watched, debating whether to attack as he slowly walked back to the clearing and straightened himself, eyes now red once again.

"Seems you learned a few tricks." Sasuke stated as the hiss of his blade filled the air. The shine of the metal reflected the light of the moon as he stepped back into the lit clearing.

"I've learned more than a few tricks during your absence, shame you have to discover them the hard way."

"It appears your intelligence has changed for the worst too."

"Ha!" She cracked, not at all amused, but looking at it now it did seem pretty stupid to try taking him on alone. Still, she preferred it this way.

Suddenly he was in front of her, slashing his katana, and she just barely dodged it by going low. She took the opportunity to swipe at his legs with hers before he could pull the sword back and swing at her again.

Seeing him now ready to slash again she jumped back and began to rethink her situation. He was faster than her, much faster. Vaguely she noticed a very light cut on her arm that she promptly chose to ignore since it wasn't very deep, but it still was a sign of how close he had got. She could see she was going to need to conserve her chakra for this fight.

Attacking him head on wasn't going to work. She needed distance.

She jumped back to a tree and with a grunt pulled it up by its roots before immediately swinging it at Sasuke. He easily jumped above it, avoiding it, a raised eyebrow evident of whatever surprise he had at the move or her strength, however futile it was. Suddenly his sword was back in its sheath, and he was going through all too familiar hand signs. She had a second to pull the tree back just in time to knock a giant fire ball into the forest. The burning tree, now covered in flames, quickly followed as she threw it away and charged at him. Perhaps she'd do better now that his sword was away.

In the back of her mind she was debating with herself as to how unmatched she obviously was, but she wasn't about to give up. The people she cared for were in danger if he kept doing what he was unchecked.

Sasuke, still airborne, used his momentum to push himself off a nearby tree and propel himself back at Sakura, intent to dodge her punch when suddenly she disappeared, a poof of smoke and a log where she once had been. He spun around looking for her, noticing a shadow from above only in time to dodge out of the way as she came from the moon, shooting down with a kick, impacting the forest floor with a giant crack, dirt flying everywhere. Under the cover of the settling dust Sakura hid back in the trees, preparing for her next move.

She almost had him there, but his Sharingan was activated making it too easy for him to dodge her taijutsu. She was nowhere near fast enough to compete with those eyes. Also if he chose to draw his sword again she had no chance of getting close enough to land another attack either. She needed to get Sasuke to stay in one place long enough for a hit, or at least predict where he'd go next. She needed to change his advantage in the fight, he obviously had too much control over it.

She threw more kunai at him, which he easily dodged by jumping to the left.

"This is foolish Sakura, you have no hope in defeating me." He stated as he easily dodged the next barrage of kunai. "You never had a chance. You should really just go back to that weak, treacherous village."

This time Sakura threw glowing chakra scalpels which were slightly faster than kunai. He dodged left again but this time Sakura was ready, counting on that move. She was already running at him, swinging a chakra infused fist again and this time made impact while he was in midair. Once again Sasuke was sent into a tree, this time causing him to emit a grunt. She quickly followed it up, pinning his slightly dazed self to the tree as she pulled back her other hand, now glowing red.

He looked up as she plunged the red fist at him, and she saw the all too familiar ebony eyes, calmly watching her, but slightly in pain. It was a look she had seen too often back when they were on a team, he wounded, looking at her as she cried over him. Something in her snapped, and she pulled her hand away at the last second, hitting the tree inches away from him. The negative chakra that would otherwise overload his circulatory system died out, wasted on the wood, and she gritted her teeth.

A moment later she found herself staring up at the full moon as her back slammed into the ground. She was in a daze as her hands were pinned above her head by the wrists, another following to hold her down at the neck as Sasuke appeared above her. He was straddling her, pinning her lower body and making her legs useless to aid her out of his hold as he slowly began to squeeze.

"You hesitated, Sakura." His voice was cold as ever. "A ninja hesitating to make the kill is a likely fatal mistake."

She was desperately trying to hold back the tears of frustration she could feel slowly beginning to escape. He was right; she had no chance at defeating him. All this time, and he wasn't even serious with her. What was worse was he had apparently just got done with a fight earlier, and she still had no chance with him not at full power. He could have easily finished her off with his katana, and that's not even mentioning any of the ninjutsu he knew. All he had thrown at her was a katon.

"Hurry up and kill me." She rasped out, the pressure on her throat distorting her voice.

His emotionless eyes narrowed as he studied her face. "Do you really want to die?"

"If I can't stop Naruto from going after you, if I can't stop you from falling further into your hate, if I can't even protect those I care about, then what is the point of it all? I don't want to watch you destroy everything I care about, including yourself. If you kill me it will at least convince Naruto once and for all that his goal of bringing you back is impossible."

He was silent as he watched her and she again wished he wasn't so hard to read. What could have been seconds felt like hours as he held her down determining her fate.

His chin fell down to his chest causing his bangs to hide his eyes from her sight, and then "You are still so annoying". The last thing she could see was the way the moon glowed in the sky behind his contrasting silhouette of sharp edges, and then the chirping of birds filled the air.

Then the darkness took her.

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_.桜花何が不足でちりいそぐ_

_sakura hana nani ga fusoku de chiri isogu_

_Oh cherry blossom-_

_why the rush_

_to scatter so soon?_

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_A/N:_

_Thanks for reading the first chapter of my story, and no, Sakura isn't dead. Expect chapter 2 in a week to two weeks. I'd love any form of review or useful criticism. I don't have anyone beta-ing this, and again it's been years since I've written anything. I'll probably be changing up the summary of this story by the time I get to the next chapter or so. _

_Also, umm… credits:_

_Haiku is by Kobayashi Issa, which you'll be seeing a lot of in this fic. _

_Musicians who helped me with writing this chapter are Echo and the Bunnymen, Muse, and Martina Topley-Bird._

_And of course thank you Kishimoto-sama for creating such an awesome world to play in.  
_


	2. Numb

_Wow, you guys really encouraged me. So much, here's a chapter a couple days early. Seriously though, I was only expecting to get maybe 5 reviews at the most but… wow. Thank you guys so much. This chapter is dedicated to you!_

_I hope I don't send you all running away with future chapters. Anyway, a bit of action done, now we're going to see me attempt some plot. I'm already working on chapter 4 now, and have a couple done out of order, so I'm now getting that excited feeling you get when everything in your story starts to fall into place. Yosh!_

_**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **_

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**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 2: Numb

_.__死下手と又も見られん桜花_

_shinibeta to mata mo miraren sakura-ban_

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Noises were the first thing Sakura became aware of. Voices in the distance, and the sound of movement, work. Slowly as Sakura returned to consciousness she opened her eyes and was faced with an all too familiar dark green. It was the dark green plastic of the tents that had popped up all over Konoha to house the people who no longer had roofs to hide under thanks to the fight with Pain. Looking around, particularly at the IV in her arm and the various medical equipment and empty cots, let her know she was in one of the hospital tents she herself had already spent a lot of time in. This time however it was all from a different perspective.

_So I'm back in Konoha. _She thought to herself_. I'm alive._

Slowly Sakura sat up, her muscles rather sore from either disuse or the lack of comfort the cot provided. Pain meant she was still alive.

She gritted her teeth as she stared down at the IV in her arm, a clear liquid seeping into her body to keep her hydrated. Her hands clenched at the rough threadbare sheet that offered little warmth.

She didn't know what she actually wanted out of going after Sasuke, and she'd never admit to wanting to straight out die, but being alive meant she'd live another day, and another, where she was useless at protecting the people that meant the most to her. She couldn't help but entertain the thought that everything would be easier if she did indeed die.

_Naruto, Kakashi, Tsunade, Ino, Lee_… various faces invaded her thoughts, smiling, comforting, and suddenly she felt ashamed to have ever entertained the notion of death. Just because her troubles would be over didn't mean theirs would, and if they truly did care for her as much as she did them, she'd only hurt them more.

Bright smiles turned to a dark smirk, and she found her mind focusing on the main origin of all her pain. _Sasuke_… Though some were hazy, memories of the fight with Sasuke came back to her and sent her deeper into depression as she fell back into the pillow with a sigh. She buried her head into the softness and inhaled the clean, sterile smell.

She had no chance of stopping Sasuke. All her training, all her hard work that made her one of the top kunoichi of the village meant nothing in comparison to the level of skill Sasuke and Naruto were at. It had been a long time since she had felt this way, mainly because Tsunade and Shizune had made sure she stomped out any feelings of low self-esteem. She was strong, she knew this, stronger than most, but still Naruto and Sasuke would always be ahead of her. _I'm still watching their backs._

Sasuke wasn't even serious in fighting her. She knew he could have killed her straight off if he wanted to, but no, he sheaved his Katana, and held back the ninjutsu until she practically begged for it.

He had played with her.

She bit into her lip. I'm s_till weak_… physically as well as mentally, and it hurt. Now her two teammates who she thought the world of would continue on the path they were on, and they'd probably end up killing each other.

She really wished she could stop caring about Sasuke.

There was movement in the corner of her vision as the tent flap was lifted and Sakura moved only her eyes to watch as Ino walked in with a small bouquet of Peony flowers. _Flowers for healing_, she thought to herself on the meaning of the flowers. Ino's face lit up in a bright smile at seeing Sakura looking back at her.

"Finally, you're awake!" The girl hurried over to Sakura. "You had us all worried there for a while until Shizune was able to check you out. We didn't know what had happened to you." Ino stood next to Sakura who still hadn't moved as she began setting up the flowers into a vase on the night stand. There were already some dried up flowers in it which Ino quickly did away with.

Sakura sat up and stared with heavy eyes at the wall opposite to her. She could feel Ino studying her as she remained silent.

"It was …. Sasuke, wasn't it?" The girl softly asked in an apologetic tone. Sakura slowly nodded her head once as she closed her eyes again.

"Kiba said you, him, Sai and Lee went after Sasuke after talking to Naruto." Ino explained. "Kiba said they found you, unconscious in a clearing which had obvious signs of a fight. No one could wake you, and so they brought you back here on Akamaru…"

Ino faded off, apparently waiting for something but Sakura remained silent. "You probably smell like dog now." Ino finally concluded, scrunching her nose up at the thought.

Sakura allowed the ends of her mouth go up into a slight smile at that. Ino was obviously trying to make her feel better in her own way. She didn't want Ino to worry, or anyone else for that matter, so she supposed she'd have to start working the smiles. Her going after Sasuke was her own choice, and she didn't want to burden anyone else. Most of all she didn't want the concerned looks, questions, and worst of all, pity. She had enough of it when Sasuke originally left.

"Have they given me the ok to leave?" Sakura asked, finally facing her friend and stretching to show she was ready to get out of the cot. "I need a shower, or maybe even a nice, long bath." Thankfully during the Akatsuki attack the hot springs weren't damaged too much so the town still had use of those baths. They were however, crowded.

Ino seemed to perk up at that, but quickly huffed. "You're just now conscious after being knocked out for two days; they're going to want to properly examine you now before you leave, Forehead." Ino promptly poked Sakura in the forehead as if to prove her point. "They checked you for signs of a concussion or any other sort of injury, but anything else they need you conscious for still needs to be done."

Sakura was already removing the IV, confident in her health. Only Shizune or Tsunade were better as diagnosing a person than herself.

"But you look fine to me. Let's get out of here." Ino grinned, already aware her friend was about to just leave anyway.

"Has… has there been any change in Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura quietly asked as she positioned her legs over the edge of the cot.

Ino's face fell a bit at that before shaking her head, and offering Sakura a hand as Sakura threw off her blankets. Sakura was grateful to find herself in her clothes and not the embarrassing hospital gown.

"Tsunade-sama is still in a coma. Her vitals are stable, but there has been no sign of change since you left."

Sakura took the hand Ino offered as she got out of bed, sad at hearing the news. "And… Naruto-kun, Kakashi-sensei?" The blood was rushing to her head from the sudden action, making her balance unstable.

"Ah…" Ino looked thoughtful for a minute as Sakura regained her balance. "Most everyone, including Danzo, have returned from the summit, but Naruto, Kakashi and Yamato are missing…"

"Missing?"

"Ye… yeah… they haven't checked in for a long time, since heading out to talk to the Raikage. Since your group has left and returned, and there's still no word from them. Everyone's getting worried."

Sakura was now quickly walking out of the tent leaving Ino to run to catch up.

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Sasuke's slightly hunched form made its way through the shadows of the cave entrance that currently made the Akatsuki hideout. Further in the warm light of torches sent his shadow dancing against the stone walls as he made his way to the room that he had been given to call his quarters.

"It was beginning to worry about you Sasuke-san." A voice called from the shadows. Sasuke didn't move, but his eyes snapped to the source. "You were taking a long time returning from the fight. If you were injured, all you had to do was ask for assistance back." The spiral, one eyed mask appeared in the light of the torches.

Sasuke didn't feel like an answer was necessary to respond so he continued on towards his room, rudely ignoring Madara.

"You'll need to be more cautious now, Sasuke-san. Now that you don't have the convenient healing abilities of your team mate, you will be liable for your actions all the more. You're still a mere mortal, Sasuke-san… and injured. I'll give you a week to rest. After that there's some training I'd like to offer you."

Sasuke huffed to himself at that, still not turning to face Madara as he promptly shut his door.

* * *

Sakura sat before her bowl of ramen as she sat at the make-shift ramen stand Ichiraku had set up. She was staring into the bowl of brown broth, vegetables, noodles, and round slices of the spiral fish sausage otherwise known as Naruto, listlessly stirring it with her chopsticks as she wondered what she was thinking to have even come to that spot for a meal. Ramen was not the answer to her mood right now. Before she thought she was hungry after not eating for days, but now when faced with an actual meal she had promptly lost her appetite. How could you eat ramen and not think about Naruto?

After leaving the hospital tent with Ino she had spent most of the day trying to work her way up the ninja ranks for any information she could on team 7's status.

Her mood only soured more in recalling her efforts earlier that day. In all her life Sakura never had to work as hard for information before as she had today. What was worse was after all her effort of pestering any ranking ninja she could find for any bit of information, it all resulted in nothing. No one she spoke with knew anything, and if they did they weren't telling her. It alarmed her at how hard it was to get anyone to even speak with her.

It was blaringly obvious to her quick mind why she was having problems; previously she was known to everyone as the Hokage's apprentice. That status gave her access to everything but the most secret files and ANBU records. Now without that status she found she took that previous access to information for granted. To every ninja who possibly knew anything she was now just another chuunin. Some who knew her smiled at her apologetically as she asked, others just huffed at her and shooed her away.

Worst of all, outside of not getting any information, was the humiliation she felt when she was kicked out of the Hokage's tent. She had gone and asked for an audience with Danzo to see what he knew because surely the Hokage, _self-proclaimed traitorous ass_, knew something about Naruto and everyone else. If not she would have at least liked to request being put on a mission to help in the search. But no, instead she got a jounin secretary who wasn't Shizune, sadly looking at her as Root ninja took her by the arms and pushed her out the door.

Other than that, all she got were rumors; everything from Naruto being captured, killed, to his even leaving the village. One such rumor claimed he turned into a giant frog. Nothing of real substance, and none of the Rookie Nine knew anything either.

"Hello, Ugly."

Sakura bolted straight in her seat, and spun to face the pale, emotionless figure facing her. "Sai!" He was dressed as usual with the high cut shirt no normal male shinobi would dare wear.

"It appears you are happy to see me." He observed as he sat down next to Sakura. He shook his head to the person behind the counter signally he didn't want anything.

"Do you know anything about the rest of Team Seven? What happened to them?" Sakura asked promptly.

Sai was quiet for some time, watching Sakura. He was obviously thinking about something and it made Sakura suspicious. "What do you know?" She urged.

He unrolled a blank scroll and took out a brush and ink. Sakura wasn't at all amused, wondering how he could paint in this situation, but was appeased when he finally got around to responding. "As you know I went with you after Uchiha Sasuke, but I also left a clone to speak with Naruto-kun as well. After speaking with him and Kakashi-sempai, Kakashi-sempai left with my clone in pursuit of you. He didn't want you to face the Uchiha. Some time while on your trail we were attacked. I unfortunately was the first hit, and it dissipated my clone before I could see who was attacking.

Sakura's face fell. "Where was this?"

"Slightly south of where you spoke to Naruto in the land of Iron." Sakura bolted up, only to have Sai promptly grab her arm. She glared down at him for keeping her there.

"Danzo-sama is due to make an announcement to the village in a few hours, one I think you should hear. Also it would be unwise to leave the village now without an official mission."

Sakura snarled. "I don't give a damn about Danzo. They are in danger, and I'm not going to stay here when they might need me."

Sai still didn't let go and Sakura violently pulled her arm away.

"You'll need to hear what he says. Be there Ugly, or you'll regret it. Naruto is involved in his announcement. Besides, Danzo has ordered no one is to take action without his permission. If you do so he is unlikely to be as lenient to those who do not follow his orders as they would the Fifth."

With that Sakura left Sai in a huff. Orders or no she was going to pack.

* * *

Hours later she found herself among the crowd that had gathered around the ruins of the Hokage tower. All around Konoha them was still plenty of ruins and debris, the cleanup teams had only managed to clear away the streets in most of the areas in order to get traffic moving, as well as clearings for people to live and work. The ruins of the red tower that used to be so prominent in the village lay as the backdrop to the makeshift stage that was set up. They made for a rather desolate setting as the crowd waited for the self-proclaimed Hokage.

Most of the village seemed to be there, and they looked a ragged, dirty, tired mass, something to be expected with the living conditions the whole village was now subjugated to. A number of people were constantly looking up above the crowd at the slate gray rain clouds that had filled the sky. Sakura hoped Danzo had the courtesy to get talking and not make the village stand out on the muddy streets while it rained.

People were talking quietly among themselves obviously wondering what Danzo had to say, and Sakura even believed she head Naruto's name mentioned a few times. It warmed her cold heart slightly to know that so many were apparently concerned about him, even if it may just be part of the village gossip.

After waiting what seemed like an hour under clouds that got heavier and darker, Danzo finally made his appearance followed by the elders and a couple Root members. The elders lined up on the stage behind Danzo with the Root members as he stared before the crowd. Sakura was glad to see he at least had the decency not to wear the Hokage robes. Such a thing could create an uproar because he had yet to be sworn in by the jounin.

Sakura was also slightly disappointed to see that after a rumored attack on his return from the Kage summit, Danzo looked the same as he always did. Sure he was always in bandages, but it didn't look like he had acquired any new ones.

"Konoha…" His voice boomed over the crowd, which instantly quieted. "It is with a heavy heart that I am before you instead of the Fifth who did everything in her power to protect you." Sakura could feel her hands clenching into fist at him mentioning her teacher. "Under these heavy skies that could mirror the mood in our hearts, I have come to promise you to do everything in my power, like our great Fifth and the Hokages before her, to protect each and every one of you from anything that may threaten us."

"Konoha. That was once a powerful name that sent fright straight to the heart of the enemy. Once, long ago, a person was foolish to think that they could attack us. We, a once proud shinobi nation, are now made to grovel in the mud among the ruins of what used to be. Here we are, starving, cold, and without a roof over most of our heads. We are vulnerable, and we are wounded." He paused as he looked over the crowd, obviously for dramatic effect.

"For us there are only two possibilities: either we remain shinobi or we come under the thumb of Akatsuki and all else who wish us to fall, and this includes other hidden villages. I refuse to allow the later to occur even if we are now but a small number. I believe Konoha to be great enough that just one man here can overcome many elsewhere. We are Konoha, and even among the rubble of our beloved village, we are a strong." A murmur of agreement was heard across the crowd as the words set in.

"Some will ask me what about peace? Peace is sadly no longer an option. Our beloved Fifth believed in peace, and we put the full burden to keep it on her, and now we've lost her because peace cannot be strived by one person and diplomacy alone! While we grew complacent in the peace she sacrificed herself for, the other villages continued on the war path, strengthening as we put our trust in them."

"I went to the Kage Summit in hopes of gathering aid to combat and fend off our enemies, but instead of open hands I was met with balled fists!" He was now getting more animated in his voice and hand gestures. "Now they show their real faces with backstabbing treachery, and we are once again alone, on our own, and in a worst state than before. Now we must strive with all we can so that our children, the future of Konoha, may see maturation, and work once again for the days of peace. But first we must deal with those who have caused us such suffering!"

"We have reason to believe that one of these deceptive villages is behind the disappearance of Naruto, our Jinchūriki. Such a loss in our hearts is also a powerful gain to another village. Somewhere, our hero who hoped for peace, who went to other villages with an open heart and open arms, is either imprisoned, or dead. We cannot let such actions go unpunished!" A shout of agreement was heard from somewhere in the large crowd, and around her Sakura could see people nodding their heads along with it.

"This is why, from this burnt rubble we, the Village of the Leaf, will emerge like a phoenix, stronger, and more unified than ever before! We, together, I promise we will crush our enemies, and we will never allow for our children, our future, our dreams, to be taken. I will do everything in my power to protect you! To do this I just ask you put your trust in me and join me!" A roar from the crowd was emitted, and he grew even louder as he threw a fist in the air. "For our future, for our children, and for Konoha!"

Sakura stood among an elated, cheering crowd with despair growing in her heart.

* * *

_.__死下手と又も見られん桜花_

_shinibeta to mata mo miraren sakura-ban_

_that they're no good at dying_

_again can be seen..._

_cherry blossoms_

* * *

_A/Ns:_

_The manga… haaa, I knew the canon would veer off from what I wanted to before. That's part of what took me so long to post this story. I kept getting re-inspired or wanting to change my story to fit the current canon. We're just going to say from here on out this fanfiction breaks into its own thing at chapter 180. The differences from there are obvious, 1) Danzo escapes the fight with Sasuke, and 2) Sakura did manage to face off against Sasuke. (we may still see that in the manga… a sick part of me wants to see it happen because even if he his injured I still think he'll kick her ass, but still…. Sasu/Saku! We need more interaction!)_

_This chapter has been brought to you by the letter P, for Portishead. I hope the mood of their music rubbed off in my writing._


	3. Times They Are a Changin'

_Wow, looks like I jinxed myself last chapter and scared everyone off from reviewing. Well, ah well. I'm guessing I'll get more reviews when I get more SasuSaku interaction, which won't happen for a couple more chapters. I'm actually having problems with the Sasuke part now. I'm finding I don't really like writing him. You know why? Because Sasuke is Uber Douche! At least he is lately in the manga, and I'm discovering difficulty in trying to figure him out enough to write him properly. But yeah, uber douche, yet somehow a lot of us still love him. Well… I love him and hate him now I think … I love to hate him, and I hate to love him, yet I read SasuSaku fanfiction. … Methinks I'm in denial._

_Anyway, as usual, I don't own Naruto._

* * *

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 3: Times They Are a Changin'

_.__騒がしき世をし祓って遅桜_

_sawagashiki yo wo oshi haratte oso-zakura  
_

_

* * *

_

There was a clunk at the door, and soon the little panel was moved, lighting up a small square of the total darkness that was the dry, dirty cell Suigetsu had found himself locked in. Seconds later there was a clatter as a tin plate loaded with dark clumps was sent skidding across the stone floor, and as quickly as the light appeared, the panel slid closed, returning him back to the familiar darkness.

Suigetsu crawled over to the plate and instantly made a face at the slop they had given him, if you could call the dry lumps of things he couldn't recognize as slop.

As he ate, finding it very hard to swallow with his parched throat, he regretted all the more revealing his abilities with water on failed escape attempts. He didn't know how many days had passed since they were captured in Iron, but it took two failed attempts on his part until the Samurai got smart enough about him, and now he was a dehydrated, weak thing as his skin peeled and flaked due to lack of water. The bastards were even making sure he didn't have large amounts liquid in his food. And it was working. He was more weak than he could remember being in a long time.

A loud commotion of shouts reached his ears, apparently from a cell down the hall from his, and he heard the running of footsteps as they went past his door. He grinned, hoping it was Juugo giving them hell.

Sasuke needed to get his ass there soon, or the lack of hydration would kill him if the Samurai didn't decide to straight out execute him first.

* * *

Sakura tried not to make a face as she passed a shinobi posting Danzo's latest propaganda onto one of the electrical polls. It hadn't even been more than two days since Danzo's little speech, but apparently he wanted to stay in the minds of Konoha's citizens. Posters were popping up everywhere with various statements, with quotes pulled from his speech concerning children and the future of Konoha, to others exclaiming slogans in big bold letters like "Strength in Unity!"

She understood that now, more than ever, the people of Konoha needed to be united as a village, but it didn't stop the sinking feeling in her stomach that hit her every time she spotted one of the posters.

She soon noticed the looming shape of the tent that was her destination. Kiba was coming out of it and she stopped to greet him as he passed her. She was curious as to why he was there since he didn't have a mission to be debriefed about, but then again neither than she. Perhaps they were giving them a mission. Hopefully one concerning Naruto.

She smiled as Akamaru joined Kiba from a spot outside the tent where he was obviously waiting for him. Kiba's expression at noticing her however was not one of greeting, but hesitance. As he walked by her, he stopped and lowered his head. "Be careful Sakura, I don't like what they're getting at." He cryptically whispered before walking off.

She watched him go, feeling more than just a bit confused.

"Ah, Haruno Sakura," A voice called her from behind. She turned to see a jounin she recognized as part of Root addressing her, pulling the tent flap entrance back for her to enter. "You're just in time. Please take a seat in the chair, they're waiting."

Her eyes began adjusted to the dim lighting as she stepped into the tent, and immediately spotted the chair the jounin was referring to. There before the chair was a long table behind which sat Danzo and Ibiki, as well as several other men she didn't recognize. They however looked to be shinobi, and she concluded them to be part of Root. She respectfully bowed to the table before taking her seat.

No one spoke for a while, and under the heavy gaze of Danzo's one eye she tried not to fidget and, instead, for the sake of her shishou's reputation, sat up straighter and raised her chin.

"We've asked you here to answer questions about the incident which you were recently injured." One of the Root members stated. "Please, in your own words, give us a briefing."

Sakura gave them a brief summary of the events, leaving out what she could about Sai. She didn't think Danzo needed to know Sai was getting friendlier with the team he was sent to spy on.

"About what time would you say this fight with the Uchiha took place?"

"Early evening on the day of the Kage summit." She answered.

"And no one was with you when you met up with the Uchiha?"

"… No…" something in her instincts was telling her to be careful now with how she worded her response. "The shinobi who were with me, Inuzuka, Rock, and Sai, were distracted by an Akatsuki member known as Tobi. I went ahead so that we wouldn't lose track of Sasuke." Danzo tilted his head, and whispered something to the man questioning her.

"You use the Uchiha's name with familiarity. Please explain the relationship you have with Uchiha Sasuke."

_Relationship? What relationship?_ "Well…" Where did she start, and how would she even begin to explain it? "Of course I'm familiar with him. We were genin on Team 7 with Naruto, under Kakashi. We trained and went on missions together. Teammates usually are on a first name basis with each other."

"So you were nothing more than team mates?"

"… Nothing more." She quietly answered. The heavy feeling in her heart she felt at confirming it made it hard to look at anyone, so she chose instead to stare at her hands in her lap.

"You mean to tell us you held no feelings for Uchiha Sasuke outside of camaraderie?"

Sakura was thrown off by the question. Why did they need to know this?

"N…no… I wouldn't say that." She tried to keep her face emotionless, but she could feel the heat in it rising. "Sasuke, perhaps felt that way, but I cared for everyone on the team deeply, him included." Sasuke, more so in some cases, but they didn't need to know that. She was beginning to wonder why she was purposely avoiding telling them straight out her feelings. Most everyone in the village who knew her knew what she felt for Sasuke. Why were they trying to drag it out?

"So you weren't lovers?"

"No." She glared as they went back to silence, the only noise was from the pen one of the men were using to make notes. Then there was a shuffling of paper as her interrogator pulled out a manila envelope.

"In a file here it says you were the last to see the Uchiha before he left the village." She didn't like how their eyes bore into her, it made her nervous, and she began to clench her hands. Her palms were getting sweaty. "What happened that night?"

"I… he was acting strangely, and I had the feeling he was going to leave, so I tried to stop him."

"And you chose not to inform anyone of his leaving, even your team leader, Hayate Kakashi?"

"There… wasn't time."

"How did you try convincing him to not leave?"

"By … by telling him what the village had to offer him." She dropped her head again.

"Which was?"

"What does something that happened almost four years ago matter?"

"Answer the question."

"I told him I would do everything I could to make him happy." She felt so vulnerable now, and couldn't bear to meet their eyes as the sound of paper and pen continued.

"Do you love Uchiha Sasuke?"

Dark, deep eyes that saw so much. A slight smile pulling at the side of his mouth.

"… yes." She confirmed softly.

There was more shuffling of papers , more writing, all contributing to an otherwise maddening silence she felt in the tent. Finally, after what seemed like ages…

"You are dismissed Haruno. We'll let you know if we have any more questions."

She slowly stood up and left, completely forgetting in her nervousness to ask about any missions concerning Naruto.

* * *

"Where are they?" Sasuke demanded of the masked figure sitting in a chair, Madara's usual spot. Madara was apparently enjoying the fire ablaze in the hearth when the younger Uchiha stormed in, making demands.

"Who are '_they'_, Sasuke-san?" Amusement was evident in the elder Uchiha's voice.

Sasuke halted near Madara's chair, his furious aura which would usually send people stumbling in the opposite direction apparently had no effect on Madara whatsoever.

"Suigetsu and Juugo," Sasuke growled out. Sasuke had woken earlier to discover he had slept for several days. He was still recovering, bandaged up on his own with what little first aid he knew, and his whole body was screaming at him to go lay back down. However the obvious absence of him team bothered him too much. He went looking for his remaining team mates in the compound, and not finding them in their usual spots, he immediately went to Madara thinking the Akatsuki leader had done something with them.

"Put away you're Sharingan, Sasuke, you'll go blind if you use it too much. " Sasuke could just hear the smile on Madara's voice, and it only fanned the flames of his anger more. "I've already told you this several times. How much more do I have to say it until you come to accept it?" Sasuke ignored the comment and only allowed his glare to intensify.

Madara turned his attention back to the fire. "The remains of your team never returned from the Land of Iron. They, being your team, are your responsibility, not mine."

"Do you know what happened to them?"

"Captured and waiting for judgment, which will inevitably be followed by execution. I must say, I'm surprised the Samurai have managed to hold the big one for so long."

Sasuke began turning away to leave, but Madara obviously wasn't finished.

"Don't go after them Sasuke, at least not yet. Remember, patience will get you what you want. I assure you they aren't scheduled to die yet. Rest some more, and then we'll work on how to help your team members out. Until then, I have some scrolls I wish you to study as you recover." At this Madara tossed to Sasuke a group of bound scrolls which Sasuke snatched up. Glaring back at the Akatsuki leader, he left the chamber.

* * *

Sakura snapped her eyes open to the darkness of her room. Something was making noise, enough to wake her. She immediately grabbed a kunai and snapped on the light next to her bed, only to yelp at seeing a black rat. After giving it a second look, she calmed considerably at seeing it move more like a mass of brush strokes than an actual, furry rodent. It was one of Sai's drawings.

"Sai?" She called, and watched as the rat jumped up and motioned towards the window.

She stood up and went over to the window. There, on the other side, looking at her expectantly was Sai. She opened the window. "What is it?"

"Get dressed, you haven't much time."

"What?"

He had let himself into the room, as quiet as can be. He looked around the room before heading to a corner and picking up her pack. It was the bag she had packed in hopes for leaving to find Naruto.

He unzipped it and began rummaging through it.

"Hey?" She protested as he began walking around her room, grabbing seemingly random objects before dropping them in her pack. "What are you doing?" She asked, frustrated at not getting much for answers out of him.

Perhaps the frustration in her voice finally became apparent to him. "Root is on their way to arrest you. You're wasting time with questions. We need to leave." He stated as he pulled open a drawer and began pulling out various medical supplies she kept, inspecting them before placing most in her pack. Normally she'd wonder how he'd knew where she kept everything so well, a thought that would creep her out, but the news he provided her with took precedence in her mind.

"WHAT?"

He turned to her and stared, obviously not about to repeat himself. Sakura took the hint and quickly went to snatch up her clothes. She gave Sai a sidelong glance to make sure he wasn't watching before quickly changing into her usual shinobi outfit. As she snatched up her shoes she found she was being pulled out the window.

"Sa-" a hand quickly covered her mouth as he pulled her behind a pile of rubble across the street. She quieted down at seeing shadows approach the building, and then her window. Her eyes widened at seeing the shadows' pale masks glow white in the moonlight. They were either Root or Anbu, but either way it seemed Sai was right. A squad of masked, high ranking shinobi visited you in the middle of the night for very few reasons. One was assassination, the other, more likely (she hoped) was to be arrested.

"Get your shoes on." Sai whispered into her ear. "Quickly." Seconds later she had them on and a dark cloak was thrown into her face. "Put that on."

She had only managed to throw the cloak over her shoulders before he pulled the hood down over her head and was again tugging her along, keeping them to the shadows as much as possible.

"What's going on, Sai? Why do they want to arrest me? Surely this is a misunderstanding."

He was hunched over another scroll, quickly drawing up more rats and what appeared to be an owl. As soon as each subject was completed they either ran off or flew off the scroll. Sentries Sakura guessed.

"You have been aware of Danzo-sama's goals for a while now."

"What, to control Konoha?"

"Yes, and his grudge against the Fifth."

"Yes…"

"If you have not noticed, Ugly, Danzo-sama has succeeded in most all of his goal."

Sakura was quiet as she thought about it. Tsunade was out of the picture, no one was currently opposing him, and if things kept going as they were he'd be named Hokage in no time.

"But the jounin have to approve the appointment first, and Kakash-"

"Danzo-sama has already been approved by a majority of the jounin. The village elders already approve, and after the speech he made gaining village support it is only a matter of time until he is officially Hokage."

They were slinking around another corner and Sakura and Sai froze as another masked shinobi ran past.

After a few seconds she whispered to Sai again. "So what does this have to do with me?"

"You represent an opposing party."

"So I'm being arrested on politics?"

"You are being arrested on treason."

"What?" Sakura said again, and was not enjoying sounding like a parrot with how much it felt like she was repeating herself. Either way she had to watch her tone, or they'd be caught. She forced herself back to a low, but harsh whisper. "How am I being arrested on treason? I didn't do anything!"

"As you know, I am limited in what I can say about Danzo-sama, but it is my belief that with you he wishes to be rid of any form of the opposing party, as well smear the Fifth's name."

Sakura was shocked at that theory, but she could understand it. She was suddenly pulled down as Sai motioned for her to be quiet. Several more shinobi ran past, and her heart was suddenly pounding. If she was caught and the charge was indeed treason, it would mean the death penalty.

"How did he manage labeling me a traitor?"

"Through your interview, and the questioning of others. I believe he has gathered enough evidence to work against you in terms of your relationship with the Uchiha. Some of it is likely fabricated, but from what I know the claim is you are actually working with the Uchiha, and shall be charged as a spy. It also seems they wish to blame the disappearance of Team 7 on you."

"How can they do that?"

"He is Danzo-sama."

Sakura was suddenly chilled at the thought, and didn't notice as Sai had jumped up out of her sight. A noise from above finally caught her attention in time to see Sai finish climbing up the rocky wall. It was then she realized that they had made it to where one of the walls met the Hokage monument. The leaders of the past, her shishou included, stared down at her.

Sai looked down at her from atop the wall, clearly waiting on her. She gave one last quick look around her to make sure the coast was clear before climbing up to join him

"You have to leave, or they will have you killed." He stated as he helped pull her onto the wall. "No one is here who can clear your name with evidence." He was now looking over at the other side of the wall as he shoved her pack into her arms.

"I can't leave, Konoha is my home." She could feel the shock beginning to take over from what was happening. It was all too much for her right now. Her heart was pounding in her ears as Sai turned to face her again.

"You are no longer welcome in Konoha, and now you will be listed as a missing-nin."

"I can't do this, Sai!"

"You will die if you don't, Sakura-san."

He had called her by her name. It was so odd, so abnormal from him that it stopped all other thoughts in her mind for a moment.

Sakura turned her head over her shoulder and looked down on the village. Lights were dotted across it, twinkling from various camps and buildings among the rubble, rubble she had hoped to help remove, to help rebuild her home. She spotted another shadow moving across a section she was watching, and looking around more, noticed even more shadows, seemingly increasing in number as they ran through camps, rubble, and what little roofs were left. They were searching for her.

"I've enclosed any information I could in regard to Naruto's last known whereabouts in a folder you will find in your pack. It is my belief that if you can find Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato, you will be able to come back." Sai then smiled at her. "Don't come back until you can do so with the confidence that Danzo-sama cannot legally kill you."

Sai startled her by moving so close to her there were only inches apart. He looked down at her, and the close proximity made her nervous. She wondered vaguely when she'd be able to teach him about personal space, because right now if she didn't know better it looked like he was going to kiss her.

"Don't die, Ugly." He smiled at her as she felt the sensation of being pushed back, and suddenly her feet weren't supporting her anymore. As her cloak billowed around her she watched as Sai grew smaller and smaller as the top of the wall fell further away from her. Finally she took to her senses enough to position herself to land safely.

She landed with a light thump, chakra helping soften her landing. She looked up once more at the top of the wall, the moon waning in the sky giving off some light, but she saw no sign of Sai.

Far off she could hear the noise of guards at the gate. It was only a matter of time till they began searching for her outside the wall.

She made sure her bag was properly strapped on before she began running into the cover the shadows of the woods offered her. Running away from the place she called home.

* * *

_._  
_騒がしき世をし祓って遅桜_

_sawagashiki yo wo oshi haratte oso-zakura_

_the cure for_

_this raucous world..._

_late cherry blossoms_

_

* * *

_

_A/N:_

_Ok, Latest Naruto chapter - 148… THANK YOU KISHIMOTO-SAMA FOR THIS MOST EXCELLENT VALENTINES GIFT! Even if it ends horribly, even if you sink my ship with an iceberg larger than the one that hit the Titanic after this chapter, I AM HAPPY FOR THIS MOMENT TO FINALLY ARRIVE!_

_I like to amuse myself with the notion that Kishimoto purposely planned for this stuff to happen around Valentine's day, but then I know I'm just a fangirl more than likely looking too much into coincidence. _

_Anyway, reviews are really appreciated. They inspire!_


	4. Bantoandoran

_**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

* * *

Previously:

_"Don't die, Ugly." He smiled at her as she felt the sensation of being pushed back, and suddenly her feet weren't supporting her anymore. As her cloak billowed around her she watched as Sai grew smaller and smaller as the top of the wall fell further away from her. Finally she took to her senses enough to position herself to land safely._

_She landed with a light thump, chakra helping soften her landing. She looked up once more at the top of the gate, the moon waning in the sky giving off some light, but she saw no sign of Sai._

_Far off she could hear the noise of guards at the gate. It was only a matter of time till they began searching for her outside the wall._

_She made sure her bag was properly strapped on before she began running into the cover the shadows of the woods offered her. Running away from her home.  
_

* * *

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 4: Bantoandoran

_.__うしろから冷々したる桜哉__  
__ushiro kara hiya-hiyashitaru sakura kana_

* * *

"Now Uchiha-sama, recite to me the rules of achieving."

Sasuke stared at the old man before him, and wondered not for the first time how in the world any of the things Madara was trying to get him to learn would help him with this so called complicated jutsu he was to learn. So far all the elder Uchiha had assigned to him were various scrolls on philosophy and meditation, as well as an old man who was trying to get him to achieve some sort of chakra that wasn't really chakra.

"In order to contract a thing," Sasuke began, his voice never losing its monotone, "one should surely expand it first. In order to weaken, one will surely strengthen first. In order to overthrow, one will surely exalt first. In order to take, one will surely give first."

Sasuke recited, but he didn't really understand how it was to help him. If anything, he already had mastered the overthrow with exalt thing with Orochimaru.

The old man grinned at Sasuke while he finished. The smile only enhanced the wrinkles to the man's face, making the man look all the more ancient.

"This is called subtle wisdom, Uchiha-sama. There is always a balance we must keep in order to live in unity, and it's only when we're in unity with ourselves and our surroundings that we may walk the enlightened path and tap into nature's reserves, and the full capacity of what we hold, for our own use." The old man went quiet again as he did so often during these lectures. Sasuke was used to the odd, quiet moments where the man would stare off into nothing, sitting still as a statue. He couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the old man was going senile. "Next, the rules to retaining something."

Sasuke closed his eyes and exhaled before continuing. "Be bent, and you will remain straight. Be vacant, and you will remain full. Be worn, and you will remain new." These rules Sasuke understood more. To him they described the discipline of the body, and the mindset one should have in a fight. As far as the young Uchiha was concerned he had already mastered these as well.

"Good, good. Take all these rules to heart, and you will attain balance. Follow them to solve conflict around you, as well as conflict within."

Sasuke vaguely wondered how he was supposed to balance out his inner conflict when he had no emotions other than hate and anger. Even if he did have something else that could balance them out, he didn't want them to be canceled out by useless feelings. Those emotions were his motivators, anything less would be unacceptable.

The old man straightened his back, and the faint crack of joints reached Sasuke's ears. "Next we shall meditate on what you've learned so far." His voice rasped. "Try to find calm within yourself. We shall take the meditative pose, and you shall push away all thoughts but the thought of finding balance."

Sasuke glowered at the old man, but it was useless since the old man's eyes were already closed. His patience with the man was getting the better of him. He didn't want to be stuck in a room with a relic, learning useless 'wisdom' to balance out his soul. He wanted nothing more than to just leave, reclaim the remains of his team, and kill Danzo.

The only thing stopping him was Madara insisting Sasuke master Yin-Yang Tao. It was a type of chakra element not many apparently knew about, and even fewer could use. Unfortunately for Sasuke it was required for certain techniques.

Nagato, being a descendant of Rikudō Sennin, had a natural affinity to all the elements, including the mysterious yin and yang nature chakra to call upon the demon statue. Madara still needed the statue and promised Sasuke its purpose would be used for Uchiha vindication. Madara also promised that the skill would open up new techniques, not based in the typical nature elements, and would enhance his skills in a fight.

And so to help Sasuke understand it as best as he could, as fast as he could, Madara had assigned Sasuke a tutor, the old man before him currently going on about balance. Sasuke showed the old Taoist master more respect than he'd give most for his old age, but his patience was becoming severely tried with the lessons.

The old man's eyes suddenly flickered open to look behind Sasuke at the presence that had entered the room. The man then stood and then quickly bowed with speed that surprised Sasuke. The old man had up to that point been nothing more than the very definition of slow.

"It seems we are done for today, Sasuke-sama, please practice the breathing techniques we discussed today." And with that the old man gathered some of his scrolls, bowed to the figure behind Sasuke, and left the room.

Madara stood there for a while, annoying Sasuke, obviously waiting for him to speak first. Sasuke was noticing more and more the little manipulative games Madara played with people, and he was gradually getting impatient with the little attempts the Uchiha founder used on him.

"What do you want, Madara?"

"Our informants in Iron have reported in. If ever there was a time for you to collect the remains of your team, now would be it."

* * *

"I hope they love them!" Ino grinned as she handed the customer a bouquet of flowers. "Have a great day!"

As soon the ring of the bell on the door died down from the customer leaving, the smile fell from Ino's face into a frown of worry and another sigh left her lips.

Sales were up thankfully for the small flower shop since Danzo declared the following day to be a memorial holiday for all lost in service to the village. Most businesses were closing for the day while families planned various outings to the memorial stone, grave yard, or various other locations of sentimental value in connection to their fallen.

Ino admitted to herself she liked the idea of a holiday. She and the rest of her team were more than likely heading out to Asuma's gravestone before going for some barbeque. They'd probably stay out late getting drunk to honor the dead, thought how late the team could do that for was in question since Danzo had initiated a curfew for the village.

Still, Ino was worried and confused. Things just were happening too fast for her. First the majority of Team Kakashi went missing in action during the Kage summit, and then Danzo was made Hokage. But worse of all events was Sakura…

Ino sighed again as she collapsed into her arms onto the counter. She didn't know what to believe anymore.

A report was made labeling Sakura a traitor to Konoha. According to it Sakura had aided and abetted an enemy of the village, a serious offense. Usually Ino wouldn't even consider the possibility of Sakura doing such a thing, but that was before Uchiha Sasuke was made a member of the rouge ninja group Akatsuki, and Sasuke's name was specifically mentioned in the report; A report that was made public for anyone who wished to read it, meaning the former Godaime's apprentice was now hot gossip across the village.

Ino was torn. She didn't believe Sakura would put the village in danger, let alone set her team up, but there was a small part of her that recalled just how strong her best friend's feelings for Sasuke were, and Ino knew that a woman in love was unpredictable.

There was also the fact that Sakura apparently ran before the officials could question her, and she didn't even come to any of her friends for help, at least not that Ino knew of. That just made Sakura look guilty. Ino thought for sure Sakura knew she could come to her for help, so was it a sign of guilt, or was she just not able to ask her for help?

To top things off, an announcement was also made to the public that anyone who knew of Sakura's whereabouts or made contact with her was to report to a Root or Anbu shinobi immediately.

As if they read her thoughts Ino watched as a Root ninja went by outside the shop, a black and white blur. They had taken up regular patrol in Konoha since the chaos after the attack meant just about anyone could enter the village.

The curfew made sense to Ino though, so she couldn't really complain. With how low their numbers were, making everyone vacate the streets at night made security patrols easier.

Ino's eyes fell to the tree seedlings in the corner, a very popular item for people to replant outside of their newly built homes. This one in particular was of a cherry tree. Her brow furrowed at her inability to remove Sakura from her thoughts.

"Sakura…"

There was nothing worse than being able to do nothing but think about a friend who was in need.

* * *

Sakura winced as another branch smacked against her face, scratching her as she ran through more trees. She had been investigating the woods outside of Iron, checking out a small clearing where signs of a fight were visible in hope of clues as to what happened to her team.

It was then, in the very moment that she had bent over to examine a patch of displaced earth for clues of an elemental technique, that a kunai whizzed right above her, only inches away from her head. The dull thud of it hitting a tree behind her made her heart stop.

Sakura was more than a little freaked out about it, she was shaken. The young ninja hated to admit it but if she hadn't bent over that second she very likely would have been dead now. What was worse was she didn't sense anything at all from the person, meaning their level of skill was quite high and likely more than what she was used to handling.

After the kunai missed her she had quickly took cover to the trees, but after that there was nothing. Her senses were on high alert, but there was nothing to see or hear. There wasn't a sound of a foot fall, nor even a tweet from a bird or the chatter of a squirrel. The animals were apparently well aware of the presence of a predator.

That was when Sakura had decided it best to run.

After a while it was apparent she was being pursued and Sakura dodged right and spun around a tree in an attempt to try and get a good look at her pursuer.

Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted the white of porcelain and red and black paint, only to watch as it disappeared into the foliage a few yards.

It was a hunter-nin.

Sakura returned to running, this time with more zeal if possible, desperately trying to come up with a plan. She was only a Chuunin. Yes, she reasoned, she was the Hokage's apprentice, but she still was a Chuunin. Maybe, just maybe she could be classified as a Special Jounin, but Hunter-nin? Hunter-nin weren't just jounin level, they were high leveled ANBU.

_Think Sakura, think… Fight or flight?_

There was a possibility, a very slim possibility, that if she fought she could defeat him, but if they were a hunter-nin tracking her, (and the fact that he was trailing her told her he was) the hunter-nin was very likely informed of all her weaknesses and strengths. That put her a serious disadvantage in an already unlikely match-up.

And then there was the fact that she could have sworn she saw the symbol of The Leaf on the mask before it disappeared into the brush.

That realization made her stomach fall, causing bile to rise to her throat, and far from a mindset for a fight. If it were a Hunter-nin from her village it meant Konoha was now sending people out to capture her, maybe even assassinate her. However, labeled traitor or not, Sakura was not going to kill Leaf shinobi, even if it was for self-defense. That meant she would have to avoid a fight as much as possible. _They_ may think her a traitor, but Haruno Sakura would always be a shinobi of The Leaf.

_So flight it is…_

She yelped as another kunai just barely missed her, another resounding thud in a nearby trunk from the impact letting her know how close it was.

She noticed in her rush that the trees were becoming more and more sparse, signaling a possible change in her surroundings up ahead. As long as it wasn't an open field that awaited her with no place to duck for cover, she'd be alright. Wasn't the village of Iron in this direction? Sakura cursed herself for not paying attention to what direction she began to run to when she was attacked. Such a reaction could be the death of her.

Light was now visible through the trees in front of her, and far off she could hear the sounds of the town, causing her to quietly give off a silent prayer in thanks. If she could make it to the crowds in the town the hunter-nin was unlikely to attack her in the open (especially since shinobi in general weren't exactly welcome in Iron outside of peace keeping meetings), and she could disappear in the crowds.

A movement of white in the corner of Sakura's eye caught her attention. That proved to be a mistake when her foot made contact with a trunk and she found herself falling to the ground.

A low, masculine chuckle reached her ears as her pursuer appeared in front of her, looking down at her from his mask. What the animal was, she couldn't tell, but she didn't like what she thought was a malicious looking smile painted on it. She wondered vaguely if she knew who it was behind the mask, if maybe she had even greeted him at times while working for the Hokage…

"Haruno Sakura, by order of The Leaf and the Rokudaime, I-"

He was cut off suddenly, a figure had appeared behind him suddenly and before he could react he was collapsing onto himself, unconscious. With a poof, the girl on the ground disappeared, and Sakura put away her sebon, tipped lightly with a poison that would cause him to be unconscious for several hours followed by a rather unpleasant headache.

"I'm surprised that actually worked. You would think someone who's attained hunter status could tell when he was suddenly chasing a clone…" She began to move the shinobi around slightly to make sure the position she left the unconscious man in wouldn't cause any damage. "Then again I did perfect my kage bushin from the master."

Sakura smiled to herself at recalling Naruto before facing the village. She had to hurry and get as much of a head start as she could. She may have been able to deal with the Hunter-nin this time, but they could send more, and the more time she had between her and them, the better because it meant less interruptions on her search.

* * *

In a dry, windowless cell, Suigetsu readjusted his position in an attempt to get more comfortable. Comfort was a laughable notion to him at that moment, and the irony of the situation would probably cause him to laugh if his throat wasn't currently drier than Suna.

At the rate things were going it seemed he'd discover how long he could actually go without water, something he never really was curious about enough to discover for himself previously. Well, it looked like he'd discover it _IF_ the Samurai didn't execute him first.

Maybe he'd get lucky and he'd walk through a puddle on the way to the executioner, and then when they chopped off his head he'd make it instantly re-attach… he'd have to be sure to check out the look on the face of whoever his executioner was to be because Suigetsu was sure it'd be a riot. Speaking of riots, he wondered if that action would cause one. Do they do public executions in Iron?

His self-musings caused Suigetsu to start laughing to himself, but instantly he regretted it when it added stress to his parched throat.

What he wouldn't give for a yogurt right then. _Nice, creamy, moist, wet, yogurt…_

Suigetsu was so engrossed in recalling his last yogurt he wasn't aware of anyone being outside his cell until the door opened with a screech that only an un-oiled hinge can produce.

As his eyes adjusted to the invasion of light he made out the familiar spikes of a hairstyle he knew all too well. His smile grew into a sharp toothed grin.

It looked like he was going to get some yogurt now.

* * *

_.__うしろから冷々したる桜哉__  
__ushiro kara hiya-hiyashitaru sakura kana_

_something behind me_

_tingles my spine..._

_cherry blossoms!_

* * *

_A/N: Please review! The more I get the faster I work to update._

_I apologize if the pace is really slow at the moment, I'm working on it, and we're almost to the moment so many of you are waiting for- Sakura/Sasuke interactions. It'll be here soon, I promise!_


	5. Swallowed

Thanks go to HeartOfEmerald, bananafrappe, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, LadyNorth76, and blondebarbievamp. Thanks so much for reviewing, they really made my day.

_**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**_

_**

* * *

**_

Previously:

_His self-musings caused Suigetsu to start laughing to himself, but instantly he regretted it when it added stress to his parched throat._

_What he wouldn't give for a yogurt right then. __Nice, creamy, moist, wet, yogurt…_

_Suigetsu was so engrossed in recalling his last yogurt he wasn't aware of anyone being outside his cell until the door opened with a screech that only an un-oiled hinge can produce._

_As his eyes adjusted to the invasion of light he made out the familiar spikes of a hairstyle he knew all too well. His smile grew into a sharp toothed grin._

_It looked like he was going to get some yogurt now._

* * *

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 5: Swallowed

_.__大かたは泥にひっつく桜哉_

_ôkata wa doro ni hittsuku sakura kana_

_

* * *

_

Suigetsu grinned at his refection smiling back at him in the sword he was currently caressing like a lover as he polished it. His poor sword was mistreated badly by that Samurai, and now he was determined to make it forget all about that treatment, not at all caring over the fact that the sword wasn't really something that notices things like that.

A few days had passed since the impressive breakout from the prison in Iron. Impressive meaning there wasn't any fight at all, and not a single drop of blood spilt, so in the end perhaps Suigetsu wasn't at all impressed with it. Lack of blood was something he was a bit disappointed in, but after failing several times at escaping the prison himself, he was more than happy to leave when Sasuke and the Akatsuki head showed up at his cell door. They literally just walked right in.

Now he was back to his favorite chamber of the hideout, a cave used as a sort of common. His belly was full on a combo of yogurt and water, happily cleaning off the grime and other reminders of the ordeal he and Juugo had gone though in the Land of Iron. The cleaning however just instilled into his mind that if Suigetsu ever ran into those Samurai again he'd show them how you really handle a blade. Idiots obviously didn't know how to treat a sword if they thought some random, damp storage closet was the best place for it.

Smiling he looked about the room. Sasuke was off sitting in the corner, brooding like he usually did, stiff like a stick was up his ass, and Juugo was in the corner playing with some squirrel friend he made in the woods. Usual behavior, but something felt… off.

It took Suigetsu a minute figure out what it was; it was way too quiet. No one was talking, and he didn't have the annoying harpy yelling things in his ear.

Suigetsu wasn't sure how he felt at the news of Karin's death, if he really felt to begin with. All Sasuke told him and Juugo was that Karin had died in a fight against Danzo. That was it, no details, not that Suigetsu asked, Sasuke just said "Karin fell in the fight against Danzo." And that was all he needed to know. He was actually pretty amused at first; the girl was a pain in the ass, but now as he looked around the room he was beginning to realize he might actually miss the bitch. He was stuck with a group of guys too mellow for his own good, and if he riled either one in an attempt to amuse himself with an argument, he very likely would get killed.

Stupid girl just had to go get killed.

Suigetsu's attention was suddenly attracted to a figure who walked into the room who wore the usual black clothing of an underlings of Akatsuki. Nothing was really memorable in his features as he bowed before Sasuke and said something. All Suigetsu could catch was the name Madara, and then Sasuke was getting up and heading out of the room like the proper whipped bitch he was.

Suigetsu shrugged it off and returned to his sword. By the time he was done with her he'd be blinding his enemies with the reflective glare of the blade.

* * *

"What is it?" The youth's voice demanded. The tone and the attitude behind it caused the edge of Madara's mouth to rise slightly to a smile. Such arrogance. Few things changed in Uchiha.

As Madara looked over his shoulder from his chair to look at Sasuke he was met with a sight to match the Uchiha tone in voice. There Sasuke stood near the entrance to his chamber, leaning slightly back, hand nonchalantly resting on the hilt of his katana, ever the threat even in his most relaxed expression. Yes, the ideal traits of his clan still lived in this youth, even down to something as pointless as good looks. Still, the disrespect the boy showed him would have to be dealt with, eventually. Madara's smile grew at that thought so much that his eye curved in amusement.

"New to Akatsuki as you are, I doubt it hasn't crossed your notice that our numbers here have obviously dwindled?"

"Aa." Sasuke responded meeting Madara's single eye with a level gaze. The boy barely opened his mouth to respond. This one was never one to waste time on words. He liked that.

"It's time we started increasing our ranks. We are about to go to war." He couldn't help but be pleased with that accomplishment. So many years of planning, and here he was about to actually initiate the major part of his plan, and finish with his revenge.

The boy hadn't responded as he was lost in his thoughts so he continued, "I already have Kisame off looking into these matters. I need you and your team to go… test and retrieve another candidate from the Land of Mountains." Madara reached out, presenting Sasuke with a scroll with the mission details.

"I don't run your errands."

Madara's eye narrowed slightly. "Sasuke-san, we must work together to make the name Uchiha once again great. Though the task may seem beneath you, I myself am off to do similar runs. Unfortunately I can't be everywhere at once…" He let out an amused chuckle at the idea while Sasuke gave him a side-long glance. "The sooner we replenish our numbers, the sooner we can address the issue of the village that has wronged _our_ clan for so long."

Sasuke begrudgingly stepped forward before snatching the scroll out of Madara's hand.

"You are to leave for the Land of Mountains as soon as you and your team are ready." Madara called after the figure already disappearing into the shadows, leaving the chamber, and Madara once again to the quiet of darkness.

"Madara-sama…"' A shadow near a torch grew, slowly revealing the face of Zetsu. Seconds later his black and white form solidified and bowed slightly before Madara. "Our contact in Konoha has sent us their updated Bingo Book. I also have the prepared names of eligible women you asked for.

Madara reached out a hand which Zetsu promptly placed in it the small, dark book and scroll. "How many new entries to the Bingo book this update?" Madara questioned as he set the scroll to the side and began flipping through the book, already familiar with most of the names that blurred before him. As he passed Sasuke's page, he chuckled at the picture of the boy as a twelve year old. He was sure they were now working on updating his photo after his stint at the Kage Summit, making him a grand addition to most every ninja nation's bingo book.

"About six of various minor criminals, one of which was previously a shinobi of Konoha."

Madara stopped at a page which didn't look at all like it belonged.

"Apparently that one in particular was young female, and the former Fifth Hokage's apprentice. The one rumored to have a hand in the defeat of Sasori."

"We should kill her." Zetsu's darker half commented. "Akatsuki should always remember it's debts."

Madara eyed the bright green eyes and equally bright pink hair. She looked far too happy in her picture in comparison to the usual, unsmiling or smirking photos hers accompanied in the book. "Haruno Sakura…" Madara whispered aloud. He grinned at reading her charges, brief history, and known contacts. Konoha's latest missing-nin was a surprisingly entertaining new development with plenty of possibility.

* * *

Hundreds of miles away the girl on Madara's mind was staring at the ceramic bottle before her, freshly heated with more sake. She took some odd sense of comfort in the sounds of the bar behind her as she poured herself another small cup, the whole time thinking of Tsunade. After gulping down the contents that quickly burned her throat she shook her head and willed the numbness to take over her as her body heated up all the way down to her smallest toe.

Sakura had been on her own for close to two weeks now, traveling during the night, resting during the day, and drinking away her misery in between with what little money or favors she could get from random little odd jobs. Well, that, and the money Sai had given her. It was quite a sum, something she could survive off for another two months at least (if she didn't waste it all on liquor), and she had to wonder if it was Sai's savings of some sort (did the boy spend his earnings on anything other than art supplies? She didn't think so.). Either way she was thankful.

The first week was spent in the Land of Iron, investigating and interrogating the locals to see If anyone knew what happened to team seven. Unfortunately only the inn-keeper where Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato had stayed at knew who she was talking about, and all he could tell her was what time they had checked out. Nothing odd or suspicious, and no one outside of him had seen anyone by any of team seven's descriptions. Still, she didn't give up hope and remained there, looking for clues. She went as far as to return the site where she had fought Sasuke, hoping maybe along the way she'd find some sign of Kakashi who, according the Sai, had pursued her before being attacked. From then on she began exploring the one road that went through the village.

The envelope Sai had given her was mostly useless in her search for Naruto (outside of the money), but it gave her an idea of what she would face when she returned to Konoha. The package held the report of a team she wasn't familiar with, a report on herself stating someone's suspicions that she was a spy, with various witness testimonies, some she saw as harmless comments by her friends, all insinuating she was madly in love and dedicated to Sasuke, so much that she'd do anything for him, including spy on the village.

She had laughed at reading that. In another life maybe she would have done something like that, maybe even long ago, if he had asked, but no. She was too useless for Sasuke to even consider asking.

_Now that thought deserves a drink…_ and Sakura raised the cup back to her lips again.

Still, the report claimed evidence, obviously faked, as well as circumstance. If it was presented before a jury of grumpy elders looking for a scapegoat and she were on trial she would probably be sentenced to death.

So now she was a missing-nin.

_Haruno Sakura, S-Class missing nin_! She laughed to herself, fully aware of the alcohol taking over as she sloshed more into her drinking cup. Now she was lying to herself. She knew she was A-rank at the most, and that was pushing it. Still… she did manage to avoid a hunter-nin who, to the best of her knowledge, was still tracking her, several days behind. That had to count for something…

"The mowre you dwink, the better I look…"

Sakura turned her head to look at the person who had spoken. Two seats over on the bar sat a man who looked to be in his 50s, unshaven, dirty, beer belly, and messy clothes. _EWWWWW! That nasty man? With US?_ Her nose cringed at the thought. "Go away."

"Aww, come on pretty girl…" He moved closer, the stool next to her in fact. The man was practically on top of her as he slurred into her ear, and she was surprised to find he actually had the nerve to place his disgusting, clammy hand on her thigh. "I likes your legs, what time does they opewn?"

There was a large crash as the man was suddenly making out painfully with the wall opposite to where Sakura was sitting. _SHANAROO!_

The bartender looked at Sakura with wide eyes as she examined her sake bottle in the air. It was empty, and she began waving it in front of the bartender. "More… please…"

"R-right away miss!"

_Well, that was a buzz killer…_ Here she was, alone, away from home in what she assumed now to be the Land of Tea, and she had nasty perverted old men hitting on her. Was this what her life would turn into now that she was exiled, and no hint of what happened to her team? No way to find out they were safe, let alone clear her name. She was exiled from her village, the very place she was willing to give up her life for. Death was currently waiting for her if she returned.

She wondered vaguely to herself what everyone else was doing. Her mom would probably be worried with stress, unfamiliar with the politics of shinobi, and probably unable to get information. If she knew Shizune, her kohai would be equaled stressed with worry, if she thought Sakura innocent, which of course Shizune did. Shizune knew her. Same with Ino. Sakura would never betray the village, even if Sasuke came to her at night, totally in the buff, whispering into her ear… _Woah… stop right there Sakura. Bad bad thoughts. Those are the sort of thoughts that gave Danzo a basis for making you look bad. _Sakura was rather ashamed with herself now, but she'd blame the sake, surely it was affecting her libidinous. She didn't usually entertain herself with thoughts like that of the bastard, or at least not since her last encounter with him.

_Fucking bastard. This is all his fault. _

Sakura poured another drink from the newly filled sake bottle that was placed before her, and wondered vaguely if this was the purpose Sai saw her using his money for. _Probably not_, as far as any of them knew she had never even drunk before. Did they really expect her to be an apprentice with Tsunade and not pick up the habit?

Still, if ever there was a situation that allowed one to wallow in misery and alcohol, surely hers was it.

"Hello!" A cheery voice proclaimed from her right.

The only thing that stopped Sakura from sucker punching the voice was the fact that this time it was female.

_No women have ever come onto me before._

Sakura curiously inspected the person with a sidelong glance, never letting go of her cup. The woman, clothed in bold colors of reds and purples, set down some scrolls on the bar before getting comfortable on the stool that was previously occupied by the unconscious man the bar tender was now dragging out the door. Her new neighbor was now starting to unravel a particularly old looking scroll, along with a smaller new one.

"What is your birthday?" The old woman questioned, giving Sakura a warm smile as she held a pen ready to the scroll. She had quite a little work area going.

"Why do you want ta know?" Sakura slurred, eying the suspicious woman. She didn't look the type to be in a bar. She looked like she should be at home, with grand-kids on her knee as she knitted or something.

"I'm a sort of… fortune teller." She smiled again.

"Sot of fortune teller?" Images of con artists popped into Sakura's mind, running off with a bag of her ryo, before putting her attention back to the rice wine. "I'm sorry, but I don't have money to spend on a fortune teller." Now hotel rooms and alcohol to help numb things were another story.

The old woman winked at her, deepening the already vivid wrinkles around her eye. "This one is free, on the house. Sometimes I just get the urge to give certain people a reading."

Sakura examined the woman again, and not finding her to be much of a threat, shrugged as she poured another cup. "S'okaaaaay then. Why not? My birthday is March 28th."

"Good, good…" the woman wrote it down. "And your blood type?"

"O…"

"Ah good, so you're very outgoing and social, eh?"

"You know me!" Sakura muttered into her cup. "I'm just so eager to get out there." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

After writing down a bit more onto her scroll, the woman handed Sakura a piece of paper. "Here, hold this please."

Sakura slowly reached for the paper, but as soon as she held it in her hand the piece of paper suddenly became damp and soggy.

"Eww!" Sakura yelped, tossing the damp mess onto the bar. "What the hell was that?"

"Oh nothing…" The woman responded as if nothing were amiss, writing down more on the scroll of hers. Sakura tried leaning closer to see what she was writing but the woman pulled it away, and grinned.

"Would you say you're the talkative one with your friends?"

Sakura thought on this. "I don't know, I talk, but not as much as others…" _Naruto.. now he talks! _

Sakura's face fell though at recalling Naruto, so once again she raised the cup to her lips._  
_

The woman nodded and wrote more down on the paper. "If you saw a child in the road, hurt, would you leave him – therefore ignoring him, or tell another person to do something about him, or would you help him yourself?"

Sakura eyed the old woman again as she contemplated on just leaving for a hotel room for the night. Weird questions to be asking for a fortune, but then again she wasn't a fortune teller. So maybe they were normal questions.

Sakura ended up answering the woman's random questions, half listening as she continued to drown herself in sake, before finally the woman stopped with the questions and began rolling up her scroll. Sakura wondered if this was where she'd ask her for money. The woman wasn't getting anything, Sakura thought she made that perfectly clear earlier.

"Well, thank you for your time, I found you to be a very interesting young lady." She grinned at Sakura who only raised an eyebrow in response.

"So what's my fortune, Baba-san?"

"I see you're destined for great things, some which you've already achieved, but you've still got so much ahead of you. My word of advice is to keep your chin up, and stay optimistic or you may lose yourself."

Sakura stared blankly at the old woman, not sure how to respond. "That's my fortune?"

"Yes, but I suppose you want something in connection with love like every other young lady, hmm?"

Sakura scoffed and turned her attention back to her drink. "I'm too busy looking for some people to think about stupid, useless things like love." As she said it various memories of a certain dark haired young man came to mind. Jaded memories.

"I see you've had hardships in that department…"

Sakura snorted, spilling a bit of sake' in the process. The ironic smile on her face fell at noticing the puddle of sake now on the bar in front of her. What a waste. "Love is a waste. A waste of time that leaves you open too much, making it easy to get hurt. Love is the last thing on my mind right now."

The woman was gathering her things now and placing them into a large sack she slung over her shoulder. "Be that as it may, Haruno-san, but love is like oxygen, and very hard to live without. Someone who has shunned off all semblances of love is a sad soul indeed, but everyone yearns to love and be loved in return, even if they don't realize it. While you're off searching for whatever or whoever it is you're searching for, know that your soul mate exists out there in the world, and don't give up completely on love. If you're lucky you might run into him even if you aren't looking.

"Bah, soul mates. Dun believe in them. If my soul mate shows up I'll punch him for being an inconsiderate jerk, making me wait and all."

The woman chuckled before patting Sakura on the shoulder. "Farewell and good luck!" She tittered before heading out the door and leaving the wasted girl at the bar to drown further in drink.

An hour later and Sakura found her way to the small inn where she rented a room for the night. She crashed onto the futon, not even bothering to take her shoes off.

Her mind took her back to the fortune teller, and she perked up in thinking that perhaps she was a real fortune teller. The woman did, after all, know her name and Sakura for one didn't recall ever giving it to her.

But that thought disappeared, forever to be forgotten in her inebriated state as sleep came to stop any other train of thought.

* * *

_.__大かたは泥にひっつく桜哉_

_ôkata wa doro ni hittsuku sakura kana_

_most end up_

_stuck in mud..._

_cherry blossoms_

_

* * *

_

_A/N:_

_Hmm, I think I like alcoholic Sakura for some reason. Anything suspicious or interesting there? Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review. _

_And title comes from a song by the band Bush, which I listened to a lot while writing this chapter, as well as some Butthole Surfers. Yay Grunge. Damn you Gwen Stephanie for taking away such a yummy guy from us fangirls… and there I go revealing some of my age. Really, I'd be too young for him anyway._


	6. One Is the Loneliest Number

_Thanks go to: starsandstuff, Chantrea Moonbeam, Ren-stranger, cowgirl137, innocent blusher, RainyParades 'o', HeartOfEmerald, Lisa, LadyNorth76, haliz, bananafrappe, and C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only. You guys rock for your reviews, which are so hard to get now a-days. XD_

_I was asked a couple times why Sasuke didn't respond in the last chapter when Zetsu reported to Madara about Sakura's missing nin status, and well, Sasuke was already out of the room at that point. So he didn't hear. And I fixed it up to make that more clear now._

**_Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_**

* * *

Previously:

_"Bah, soul mates. Dun believe in them. If my soul mate shows up I'll punch him for being an inconsiderate jerk, making me wait and all."_

_The woman chuckled before patting Sakura on the shoulder. "Farewell and good luck!" She tittered before heading out the door and leaving the wasted girl at the bar to drown further in drink._

_An hour later and Sakura found her way to the small inn where she rented a room for the night. She crashed onto the futon, not even bothering to take her shoes off._

_Her mind took her back to the fortune teller, and she perked up in thinking that perhaps she was a real fortune teller. The woman did, after all, know her name and Sakura for one didn't recall ever giving it to her._

_But that thought disappeared, forever to be forgotten in her inebriated state as sleep came to stop any other train of thought._

* * *

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 6: One Is The Loneliest Number

_.__大川へ吹なぐられし桜哉_

_ôkawa e fuki nagurareshi sakura kana_

* * *

"He's about this tall," Sakura moved her hand slightly above her head, showing his height. "And he's blonde, with weird marks on his cheeks, almost like whiskers." The woman's dark eyebrows went up at that. "Usually he wears a lot of orange." Sakura added, helpfully. Orange was a color that stood out, as they told him time after time. A horrible color for a ninja, but if it made it easier for her to find him now Sakura would forever be grateful for Naruto's lack of common sense.

"Ah… no, sorry," The woman in front of Sakura adjusted the bundle of wood strapped to her back. "Can't say I've seen anyone at all by that description walk by me."

Sakura tried not to let the disappointment on her face show as she bowed in thanks to the woman and let her on her way. "Thank you for your time."

Sakura had been stopping random travelers on the road and providing them with descriptions of Team Seven in hopes that someone had seen them, but unfortunately it looked like no one had, and to make matters worse she knew she was just leaving a trail for the Hunter Nin by talking to people instead of just keeping her head under her hood and keeping a low profile. She had considered a genjutsu to change her appearance, but with a hunter-nin it would probably give them an easier chakra trail, and in the long run it probably wouldn't be worth using up her already low chakra stores which would better be used in a fight.

So in the end through all the risk, no one she spoke with had recognized anyone from Team Seven. It was disheartening and a possible sign that she was going the wrong direction. With a sigh, Sakura adjusted her pack straps under her traveling cloak and continued down the road. She hated to admit it but she had gone as far as she could with what little clues what she had to go on. She honestly had picked the direction of the road she was on now because it was the opposite direction of Konoha, and the only other main road from the village in the Land of Iron they disappeared from. Now she had to think up some other options before planning her next move.

She scrunched up her nose as the road cleared partially of trees, removing the shade they offered and exposing her to the hot, bright sun. She had succeeded quite well at ignoring her headache from her previous night of drinking, but the light intensified it. She cursed her luck for not having enough time to gather herbs for something so trivial, but she was already allowing the hunter-nin time to catch up to her with her constantly stopping people on the road to ask them questions.

She had to keep moving.

Turning round the bend in the road a while later, and gratefully entering shade once again, ahead she spotted a small little tea house for travelers at a cross-roads. Hunter-nin or no, some sort of refreshment would be a good idea, and could perhaps calm her headache. No headache meant she could probably move faster instead of avoiding jostling her head. That wasn't even bringing up the energy the small rest and food would give her.

Mind made up and cause justified, Sakura decided to stop and eagerly ordered some dango and tea.

It was a nice relaxing break in the shade from traveling all day, and even better the old lady who served her offered her a free, small paper uchiwa fan Sakura eagerly began using to fight off the heat.

"So what's a nice girl like you doing out on the road by yourself? It's dangerous you know." The elder woman who ran the shop questioned as she poured Sakura another cup of tea.

Sakura for once was glad to appear weak. She had purposely hid most of her ninja gear under her traveling cloak, and had replaced her headband (kept securely in her pack for when she could wear it again) with a plain bandana to hide most of her blaringly pink hair in a way not too uncommon on civilian women. Her cloak however she worried seemed a bit too militaristic in design for her "disguise", and would have to keep her eye out for something more simple. Then again, something more simple and civilian wouldn't be designed for fighting in, so she'd have to keep thinking on it.

"Oh, I'm quite Ok." Sakura smiled. "I may not look like it, but I can defend myself pretty well. I'm actually looking for some… relatives traveling." Sakura began, "Perhaps you've seen some of them pass by here?" Sakura decided to give it a try anyway even though it all seemed to be getting so useless at this point. Food and tea must have put her in a good mood. "One of them is a boy about so high, blonde hair, markings on his cheeks, really loud and obnoxious?"

The old woman looked deep in thought, but Sakura already knew the answer. It would be another no. She needed something new to go on, desperately, and that was when the idea crossed her mind… "They usually stand out with their cloaks, all black, with red clouds."

"Red cloaks with black clouds-" the old woman murmured.

"Black cloaks with red clouds." Sakura corrected while sipping on her tea.

"Ah yes… hmmm… Thinking on it now we had a group of three stop by a couple days ago with cloaks like that. One young man drank no less than two jugs of water he was so thirsty!" The woman chuckled. "He wasn't blonde, but he was loud and, well, yes, I guess he would appear obnoxious. I'd call it rambunctious though." The woman continued giggling to herself at the memory. "Ah, youth."

Sakura wasn't familiar enough with Akatsuki members to figure out which ones they were by that description, but it didn't matter either way: she had a lead. She couldn't keep the grin off her face. _Time to investigate the number one suspects_.

She looked down at the cross roads the shop was situated on. "Do you remember which direction they took?" Sakura questioned, all too eager it was hard not to swing her legs around in excitement, or just jump up that very minute.

"Ah yes, they took the road towards Mountain Country." The woman pointed even if the sign in the road was more than adequate.

Sakura grinned. "Thank you so much Obaa-san. This will help me out a lot!"

* * *

Sai added another folder to an already huge pile of reports, and thought to himself he'd have to move them soon to make more room. He and another Root member had been working at it the last couple of days, reorganizing files Sai had already found to be adequately organized, but Danzo wanted it done a specific way to fit his own needs. Shizune, the Godaime's assistant, was nervously assisting them, and looked like a nervous wreck who hadn't slept in days. Shizune's appearance however was understandable to Sai with all the events in her life over the past couple of weeks. Looking at what happened to her teacher, the Hokage, her fellow apprentice, job, etc, they were all very understandable causes for stress, or so _People and Stress: 20 Signs The People You Care For Have Problems,_ told him.

However, reading that book still didn't give him a proper comprehension on why people acted like they were stressed. It all seemed like an annoyance, something in your own mind to deal with that could be avoided with contemplation, or perhaps some time with a brush and ink.

"Hokage-sama!" A man yelled as he ran in, scroll in hand. Sai looked up from the pile of documents, along with everyone else in the room as the man approached Danzo who sat behind the Hokage's desk.

"We just received a hawk from a scouting patrol near the border to Mountain Country. Hunter-nin Sugimura was found dead!" The man bowed as he presented the scroll with further details to Danzo.

"He was the one sent after the Haruno girl, was he not?" Danzo calmly questioned. Sai noticed Shizune next to him stiffen at the girl's name.

"Yes sir."

"Seems the traitorous girl is now openly killing Konoha shinobi. Raise her status and reward in the Bingo book."

"Yes sir!" The shinobi stood up and was already a cloud of smoke, signaling his departure.

"Buh… but wait!" Shizune suddenly cried out and all eyes fell on the woman, alone in a room full of men. "Is it certain she was the one to kill the Hunter-nin? Sakura would never-"

"It is unfortunate that someone who appeared to be such a fine shinobi fooled us all." Danzo interrupted. "However, the evidence is more than adequate to point to her as the killer. You are to forget the bond you once had with the criminal, for the good of yourself and, even more important, for the good of your village." He leveled his own eye at Shizune, who already appeared to be shaking. "You wouldn't want people to think you harbor sympathies for enemies of Konoha, murderers of our brethren, would you?" He turned his head away and turned his attention to the window where the Hokage monument sat in the distance. "Now, more than ever we must be as one."

"Y-yes! Hokage-sama!" Shizune responded, quickly bowing, before turning back to the pile of documents on the table in front of her. Something in Danzo's tone bothered Sai. It sounded almost like an underlying threat, something chapter ten in _How to Manipulate People to Get What You Want,_ explained to him, but the details were still rather vague to him.

* * *

Sasuske had dropped to the forest floor barely making a noise, followed by Suigetsu and Juugo who weren't nearly as stealth in their landing. Around them the nightlife of the forest went silent.

"Are we finally there?" Suigetsu grumbled as he stretched out his arms, high in the sky. They had been traveling for three days now, and Sasuke now deemed them to be in the location described in their mission scroll.

"Aa."

"About time." Suigetsu exclaimed in a low, contained tone as he unlatched his sword and began a few arm warm-ups. "So what are we doing?"

"Looking for someone." Sasuke replied. The mission scroll had a full description. Mountain Country, Eagle's Peak. Small house near a stream on the east side of the mountain. There he should find a man of about thirty, with brown hair green eyes. Special abilities include superior earth and water techniques, and the possibility of wood techniques. Sources had claimed he has an ability similar to the rare Senju clan, like that of the First Hokage. Confirm, and if true, recruit to the Akatsuki with any means necessary, or eliminate.

Sasuke highly doubted he'd be forced to eliminate the man. All in all it sounded pretty simple.

"Well?" Suigetsu asked obnoxiously with his arms folded to the back of his head. Sometimes Sasuke couldn't believe how annoying like a little kid Suigetsu was like.

Ahead in the woods they could see the lights of a small one story building made up mainly of various branches. It wasn't modern, going more for a traditional style and seemed as if it had been there for years, but as they quietly approached it seemed in good condition, more than likely from the hands of whoever was currently residing in it.

"So what are we going to do, just knock on the door?"

"You stay here. I'll handle this."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Suigetsu responded before plopping down on a tree trunk. Juugo situated himself in a tree.

Sasuke left them and made his way to the house. When he got within fifty yards, a man appeared in the doorway, the light backing his silhouette, keeping his features in the dark. "Who goes there?"

He looked in Sasuke's direction, which he knew to be hard to see- he was covered by the shadows of the trees which were quickly growing even longer in the setting sun. Sasuke stepped out into the clearing of the house, and then stopped, the man also took a couple more steps closer.

"What business have you here." The demanded again, arms now folded across his chest. Sasuke could now see he fit the description, and by his callused hands and rough appearance seemed to make a living off the woods.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, are you Hayashino Youji?"

"Yes, what do you want?" His eyes were quickly eyeing Sasuke, ever so suspicious, like any good shinobi would.

"My mission is to offer you a place with the Akatsuki. Your skills are needed, and refusal regrettably is not an option. You will be compe-"

"Otou-San?" A boy suddenly stuck his head out from the doorway, then ran up to the man and clung to his father's leg. He looked to be no more than seven, and looked to Sasuke with large, dark round eyes, which focused on his katana.

"I told you to stay in the house!"

"But I was worried!" The boy looked back at Sauske, obviously frightened. "What do you want with my dad! He isn't a shinobi anymore!"

Sasuke was quickly recalculating his options. He didn't like the idea of possibly killing a person who refused to join Akatsuki outright. If things came down to it, he rather Suigetsu did the job, but now the child was an unforeseen problem.

"Otou-san…"

"Get back in the house." The father demanded, pushing him back, all the while keeping his eyes on Sauske.

The child was looking at him, eyes quickly watering, but glaring at Sasuke. Sasuke was suddenly hit was a sense of deja-vu, and quickly decided this wasn't worth it.

"Never mind." Sasuke turned around, and began walking away. He'd just tell Madara the house was empty. "You'll want to move." Just in case Madara decided to check up on what he reported.

And with that Sasuke was determined to never give the family a second thought. What happened next, he would blame on his own weakness, and his becoming too reliant on Karin's skills.

He hadn't made it more than a few yards back into the forest when he felt a sudden pressure on his abdomen.

"Sausukeeeee!" Suigetsu yelled, seeing him suddenly fall to his knees more in shock than from the wound.

A large, spearlike branch was protruding from the lower right side of his stomach, and from it was a steady stream of blood. Sasuke looked back behind him, already coughing up the red substance, signally internal bleeding. The man, Hayashino, stared back at him, and that's when Sasuke first recognized the fear in his eyes. He had hid it well. The boy, equally as fearful, watched on from behind his father.

"I'm sorry, but now that you know where I am, I can't let you go." The man replied, withdrawing the spear.

Things were getting dark as he heard Juugo and Suigetsu rush into the clearing, and the only thing on his mind as he blacked out was how foolish he was to let his guard down, and to underestimate the man.

* * *

It was barely light out, the sun was just starting to burn the sky a dusky pink as it began to set in the sky. Sakura was watching it from the window in her room she had rested for most of the day in. She had woken from sleep an hour or so, and taken to the window, drowning herself in her thoughts. Her mind would constantly fall back to her friends and her situation, and the temptation to numb it all with alcohol would take hold. But if she was now trailing Akatsuki, she'd need to be in top form. Still the temptation was great. Sakura couldn't help it. It would all be so much easier if she had someone to go through it with her. She wasn't used to being so alone.

Outside she could hear the stirrings of an owl, now awake for the start of his day. The streets below her of the small village she found herself in were quickly becoming empty as people went home for the evening.

Time to hit the road again.

Sakura had no idea what she would do when she came across Akatsuki, but when it came down to it, they were the main suspect for Team Seven's disappearance, and they've wanted Naruto for years. If they didn't have him, they at least would be keeping tabs on him. How she'd get this information from them she didn't quite know yet, but she was determined to try. Right now they were her only lead.

In the back of her mind she wondered if Sasuke, Akatsuki's newest member (the thought made her stomach turn) had anything to do with Naruto's disappearance. Sakura had come across Sasuke who obviously straight from a fight. The question in her mind that kept popping up was did Sasuke have enough time to fight and deal with Naruto some time in between her talk with Naruto and then tracking down Sasuke. She doubted it, thought it very unlikely it was Naruto who he fought, yet still, suspicion was there. And then of course Sasuke isn't the only member in Akatsuki. Sasuke could have had nothing at all to do with it, yet Akatsuki could still be involved.

She wondered if maybe asking Sasuke straight out would be her best chance. Her last run in with an Akatsuki member left her almost dead, and that was with Chiyo backing her up in the fight. Sasuke hadn't killed her when she left ran into him either, though there was no guarantee he'd be so lenient the next time. She didn't understand what went on in his mind anymore.

A slight thump outside her door in the hallway pulled her attention to her door. A few seconds of silence passed, but someone was outside the door, she was sure of it. The hunter-nin that was on her trail, if he was still following her should have been at least two days behind her. There was no way it could be him. Perhaps it was the inn keeper? She had paid ahead of time…

All thoughts were suddenly interrupted with a large crash followed by chunks and slivers of wood flying in her direction. Sakura ducked down, head in hands, head to knees, to cover herself from the flying debris.

"Bingo." A rough voice commented as some of the dust settled in her room. Sakura looked up in surprise to see a blue figure in an Akatsuki cloak and large sword in her room's door way. "For a girl you sure are a bother to track down. Back tracking, never in a single place for more than a day..." He stepped in, ducking at the low entryway, and Sakura looked around desperately for her ninja gear pack. "But it was only by chance I went to a bar in one of the towns and found out you're a lush. Then it was easy." He gave a low chuckle as he stood above her, huge sword wrapped in bandages over his shoulder. Kisame…

_This is NOT good._

His head was tilted slightly, eying her with shark eyes, curiously. "A bit little to be drinking so much, aren't you?"

_Well here you go Sakura, you wanted to find Akatsuki, you got it._

Sakura hoped to god she didn't look as freaked out as she felt. Kisame of the Mist, a guy who went head to head with Kakashi and Gai, was in her hotel room, and she was apparently his target.

"What do you want?" Sakura asked, quite proud to hear that her voice didn't squeak as she carefully made her way near her ninja pack.

"That's what I'd like to know. What use can someone so weak looking as you be?" Sakura's eye's narrowed dangerously, and the shark man noticed and chuckled again. "But I'm here to explain to you a new… what was it?" He looked up for a moment, racking his memory. "I liked it better when Itachi did all the talking for these things… ah yeah, job proposition." He grinned at her, showing her all his sharp, serrated teeth, while adjusting the sword resting on his shoulder. "You're to join us, or die."

Sakura blinked. Join them? Join Akatsuki? Her? She had heard rumors about their recruiting methods. Apparently when they recruited Deidara they had created quite a scene in the village they had collected him from. He had apparently fought back, but months later he was willingly doing Akatsuki work.

"What does Akatsuki want with me?"

"Dunno, you'd have to ask the boss himself. I'm just here to show you the way."

Sakura was trying to discreetly pinpoint all points of exit she could use, which were basically the window, and the door behind him, as well as any other weapons or advantages she may have over the S-Class criminal. It wasn't looking good.

But then again, wasn't this what she wanted? Not to join Akatsuki of course, but to track them down and question them about her team's whereabouts? Surely they were keeping tabs on Naruto since they wanted him so badly.

"I can see those wheels in your head turning, girl. They better be about your choice. You're wasting my time otherwise."

No, she didn't want to join Akatsuki, obviously, and an infiltration job would be too risky. She'd track them down her own way, and on her own terms discover what they knew about Naruto.

"I'm only waiting because it's apparently the polite thing to do. You're supposed to have a choice in the matter, but I can only wait so long…"

"No."

"Oh? Is that your answer?" He grinned back at her.

"I rather die than join you murderers." Sakura had made it to her pack and was slowly wrapping her hand around a kunai.

"Hehh…" He stepped forward, but found that while the doorway was adequate for his height the wrapped sword however was far too large, and hit the door payne with a thunk, attracting his attention for a moment.

Sakura seized that moment.

Grabbing her ninja pack off the nightstand next to her she ran for the window, not at all delusional enough that she stood a chance in a fight against him.

"Oh hooo…" amusement sounded from behind her as her hand was just throwing open the window. "Too slow."

With a blast that sent the air right out of her lungs, Sakura was slammed into the wall near the bed, dazed, and suddenly feeling light headed.

"Too easy. Are you really a ninja, girl? Samehada is still hungry, your chakra is barely enough to be called a snack." The wrapped form of the sword was suddenly painfully pinning down her leg causing her to grunt in pain. "You don't know how lucky you are. I have specific orders not to really hurt you… though there is some gray area in that matter."

She tried calling upon her chakra it but it was gone. She was completely drained. Vauge memories of Kisame encounters mentioned something about the sword draining chakra as Sakura's head began to get light. She grunted again in frustration as she felt her eyes become heavy with chakra exhaustion, and could have sworn she felt the sword shiver against her. She tried all she could to stay awake, but the strength had left her.

Minutes later Kisame was back on the road with the form of a girl draped across his sword.

* * *

_.__大川へ吹なぐられし桜哉_

_ôkawa e fuki nagurareshi sakura kana_

_blown to the big river_

_floating away..._

_cherry blossoms_

* * *

_A/N:_

_I apologize to everyone since it's almost but two months since my last update. But like with most of us, life happens. I went through applying and accepting a school (Yay Art Institute of Boston, lots of paperwork now) to getting an extra job (Census job) to help pay for tuition in the fall, and on top of it all I couldn't just get this chapter right to work with what I have planned. I rewrote this thing no less than four times, changing things drastically from one version to the next. I'm still not happy with the pacing, but I just said screw it, this will have to work._

_The next chapter is already pretty much done, and was loads easier than this one for some reason. You can expect it sometime in the next two weeks._

_Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this latest chapter, and remember, I totally love reviews. Reviews inspire people to write. Tell me any opinions you may have so far, and as always, let me know if you think I'm writing people OOC, and why they appear so. Constructive criticisms are just as welcome as the usual "please continue!" comments, I want to get better. I don't care if you're anonymous either._


	7. Apple of Sodom

Starting with this chapter, the fic is going to get a bit more… dark, like I initially promised. The rating is being changed from T to M for mature.

Aww man, I only got six reviews last chapter. My own fault I suppose for wating so long, and beggars can't be choosers. Just means I have to get better I guess.

Anyway, special thanks goes out to raavuxx, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, innocent blusher, Iorieth , man-chan, and mistressinwaiting. Thanks to those who are reviewing for the first time, and major thanks to those who have been reviewing since chapter one. I wouldn't have updated so soon without your lovely comments. I'd reply to each of them individually if I could remember how to do that. .

**_Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. _**

* * *

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 7: Apple of Sodom

_.__ちる花や已におのれも下り坂_

_chiru hana ya sude ni onore mo kudarizaka_

_

* * *

_

Sakura's eyes snapped open to darkness, and her first thought was how sore her body felt. Painfully sitting up she found herself on an unfamiliar futon that smelt like it hadn't been taken out to be aired in ages. The smell, and the idea caused her nose to crease in disgust.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting she determined her surroundings to be a cave of some sort. There was nothing but her, the futon, and the various flickering torches spread out in the chamber of solid stone wall. She had no other clues as to where she was, and vaguely hopped this wasn't the result of another night of drinking.

Her eyes soon went wide in realization as she was hit with the memories of her encounter with Kisame; He had drained her of all her chakra to the point of her passing out with chakra exhaustion, so wherever she was her best guess was an Akatsuki hideout of some sort. He had mentioned something about her joining them after all.

That led her back to her original thought; What in the world would Akatsuki want with her?

Sakura didn't have any extraordinary skills, at least none on par with what Akatsuki was infamous with, and she was far from the level of strength that their members have shown. Heck, it took both her _and_ Chiyo-baa-sama to defeat Sasori, and that was no easy task; she still had the scars to prove it.

Sakura forced her body to move and began exploring the grotto for a way out. Her hands lightly brushing the wall looking for week points such as cracks that she could possibly break through to create an exit. She was pleased to note that though low, she still had some chakra, and depending on how thick the wall was she could very likely punch her way out.

"Are you looking for an escape?"

Sakura spun around to come face to face with the one who had spoken, and immediately recognized him as the one called Tobi. He was void of the Akatasuki cloak and instead wore ninja gear of red and black, along with the usual glaring, spiral orange mask. His voice however was not at all similar to what she recalled of his, a joking, carefree, high pitched manner. Instead this was deep, calm, and serious. The mood change had Sakura wondering if it was even the same person behind the mask.

"I would be most appreciative if you would not start smashing down the cave. Dealing with cave-ins can be quite a hassle." He responded as he approached her, hands folded behind his back.

Sakura tensed up, and didn't at all uncurl her fist. Instead she let chakra stream into it, visibly showing the threat she posed before spitting out "What do you want?"

Tobi tilted his head to the side slightly, studying her. "I want many things, Haruno-san, none of which involve you directly, but you, fortunately for me, have the ability of helping me attain them. You are a means to an end, if you will."

"That didn't really answer my question."

He laughed, and it wasn't at all like the giggly high-pitched laughter they had heard so much from their last encounter with Tobi. This was threatening, sinister, and set the hair on her arms standing on end. "I'm offering you a place to belong, Haruno-san. Protection from those who wish to wrong you, from the hunter-nin who trail you, from Danzo who has casted blame upon you, all so he could attain political gain. You even get to be reunited with your former team-mate, Uchiha Sasuke, who you and the jinchuriki have searched after for so long. It's quite a deal I think."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Where is Naruto?"

"…You ask a lot of questions, don't you?"

Sakura smirked. "I was top of my class in academics for a reason. Now, do you have Naruto?" Sakura balled her fists once more, quickly losing her temper. From what she recalled her attacks stood a poor chance of landing a hit. She had had seen his use of space time-jutsu first hand when Naruto and Kakashi attacked him, and if they couldn't land a hit on him than she stood an even unlikelier chance. However, Tobi had already stated he rather her not bang up his walls. Walls didn't have the ability of space-time-jutsu. Walls she knew she could hit.

To show her impatience with the conversation, Sakura lightly whacked the wall behind her, never letting her eyes leave his form. A large crack filled the air and various bits of rock soon followed, falling to the floor. Sakura didn't need to look behind her to know she had created a nice sized fissure in the cave wall.

Tobi didn't make a move. "Regrettably the Kyuubi, nor the Hachibi, are in my possession. I was hoping in fact that you may know of the Kyuubi's whereabouts since you are apparently the one who set him up for the… enemy."

"That's a lie!"

"I assumed as much. Please, Haruno-san, control that temper and try to relax. We have much to discuss." Tobi suddenly sat down in a high-backed chair Sakura was sure wasn't there before. He inclined his hand to the futon, apparently signaling her to sit down but she continued to stand.

It suddenly slid into place for her that Tobi, the one they assumed was just a new, green recruit into Akatsuki, was much more than he seemed. She didn't want to be caught unaware, especially when she didn't have much of an inclination of who she was dealing with, but by his manner and offer she had to assume he was a more higher up in the Akatsuki ranks than originally thought.

"Who are you, exactly?" She questioned curiously. If anything, Sakura could at least send a bird with the information back to Konoha. Sure, Danzo probably still wanted her dead, but that didn't mean she had any intentions of not protecting them and helping them in their fight against Akatsuki.

"The answer to that question is a complicated one, but you may call me Madara."

Sakura started; there was only one person in all the records she read to carry that name. "Uchiha Madara?" But it didn't make sense.

"So you've heard of me. Do they teach about me to young genin in Konoha?" He asked, tone almost mocking.

"There's no way you're Uchiha Madara, that would make you over a hundred years old."

"I am one hundred and three, to be exact."

Sakura was skeptical but he had no reason really to parade such a lie to her since he had nothing really to gain by using the name with her. As far as she was concerned it could be a lie, but she had dealt with people such as Orochimaru; People who had developed ways for prolonging life. It was a possibility, slight, but still a possibility. For now though, she's just accept the fact that he more than likely was an Uchiha since he possessed a Sharingan, or so Kakashi had said.

"Why are you a part of Akatsuki if you're Uchiha Madara?"

"That's a long story and I tire of talking things without purpose to you, but know that I founded Akatsuki, and that is what brings us to why you are here." He leaned forward, resting against folded hands, never taking his eyes off her. "Akatsuki has suffered many casualties, mostly at the hands of Konoha. Since we have now begun our current phase of operations we find ourselves in desperate need of a talented, medical shinobi. You fit the bill."

"You've brought me to be your healer?" Sakura was skeptical. Of all the people, why her?

"For the most part, but you will be a member of Akatsuki, and expected to take part in missions, as well as assist Uchiha Sasuke in anyway he needs."

"Sasuke wants nothing to do with me, he broke his bonds with us a long time ago and has been really clear on that. I rather keep it that way, seeing as my association with him was what put me in my current predicament."

Madara chuckled at that, and Sakura wondered what he found so funny. "What if I told you he suggested you for this role."

"I wouldn't believe you." Sakura found him asking hypothetical questions to be odd. He was up to something.

"So in terms of Danzo, you have no urge to make him pay for what he has done to you? He's committed many crimes, and goes about not paying for them. Have no you interest in attaining justice? If you aid us, the end result will be his removable from power."

"I've no interest in your form of justice."

Madara laughed again. He was beginning to freak her out and piss her off at the same time. "Is there nothing I can persuade you with, then? Money? Fame? Status?"

"Unless you're ready to just leave Naruto alone and let Konoha be; Nope. I rather die than join Akatsuki." Sakura proudly lifted her chin. "You and your group are the reason why Konoha has suffered so much, Naruto the most of all, and are likely the reason why he's even missing. You also are more than likely the reason why Sasuke didn't return after Itachi's death, and you're the reason why my shishou lies comatose in the trauma ward of Konoha Medical. She's in that state from protecting the village from you monsters, and I wouldn't dare dream of dishonoring all she stood for by taking a place in your ranks."

Madara was quiet as she finished her outburst, and sat there for about a minute in silence before slowly standing up. "This is regrettable. I attempted to be civil about this, but it seems you are quite adamant about your stance. You unfortunately leave me no choice…" Sakura could see his one eye now from the torch light hitting it just right. The all too familiar sight of red and black met Sakura's eyes, and she quickly looked away, suddenly fully aware that she could have been put under gen-justsu from the beginning. "You're familiar with the basic working on space time jutsu, are you not?" He asked.

"I've seen you use it to harmlessly pass attacks straight through you."

"Yes, it's very convenient for that, but it has other uses." He slowly began approaching her. "For example, I can be anywhere I wish by just thinking about it." He ended the sentence with a snap of his fingers, and disappeared. Sakura quickly looked around, but couldn't sense or see any trace of him at all. As far as she could tell he had disappeared completely from the cave.

"Looking for me?"

Sakura spun around to find him behind her but before she could respond she found herself slammed into the stone wall with a grunt. He was so fast, she didn't know what had hit her. "I've tried to play nice with you, Sakura, but you leave me no choice." Sakura's eyes clenched shut as she was hit with such a huge force of dark, murderous intent that is practically suffocated her. He screamed evil to each and every pore of her body, and she was scared. It was almost like the her original meeting with Orochimaru; frightened to the point she couldn't move.

She refused to be that scared little girl again.

Sakura fought the urge to freeze up and clawed as his iron tight grip he had on her throat.

"Do you recognize this?" He asked as he brought up a hand. The light glinted off whatever he held, pulling Sakura's attention to the object. Realizing what it was she paled.

"That's… my mother's bracelet… how?" She struggled out from under his grip. It was almost impossible to speak and getting harder to breathe.

Madara brought his masked head closer to hers, and all her instincts were telling her to get out, get away. This man was dangerous. He wasn't the joker they had encountered on the day Itachi died. Everything in her body, be it intuition, instinct, or suspicion, was telling her to get away. The man who had her pinned was pure predator.

"I took this little trinket from her nightstand in Konoha, just a moment ago. Your mother slept in the bed, alone. Is she a single mother?" Sakura didn't like the tone in his voice at all.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Sakura ripped at the grip he had on her, however her attempts were futile and only caused his grip to tighten. She cursed the fact that she was wearing her leather gloves; Nails would be more convenient in this instance.

"Listen carefully, Sakura-chan. If you don't agree to join Akatsuki I will go back to your mother's house in an instant and kill her. Then I will do the same to the Godamie, your teacher." Sakura was now frozen as she took in every word. "But don't think any death I bring them will be simple and quick. Oh no, if I can, I'll make sure the Hokage is brought out from her coma so that she may experience pain like never before, you mother included. I'll rape your own mother even, all the while letting her know the cause of her pain was her lovely daughter, and when they are both dead I'll will bring you back a trinket, soaked in their blood, before I fuck you ragged and toss you away to be passed around and used by the other members of Akatsuki however they see fit. Only when they have bored of you will your life be ended, but know that you'll be begging for the release of death long before it is given to you."

Sakura continued to hang onto his grip, but limply. The spark of fight had that had just previously blazed in her gut was gone as if doused with water. In it's place a cold, damp feeling of the utmost despair quickly grew from her gut and blossomed to the point that it had taken over her every being. She could tell she was shaking, but she couldn't stop it.

Her own death was one thing, but setting this man, this evil, disgusting killer onto all who she held dear? She was completely powerless to stop him if he tried.

"Now there's an expression I like to see. There's nothing like breaking the will of a prideful, virtuous kunoichi and bending her to your liking."Sakura felt a hand grasp her thigh as he laughed. That brought her out of her stupor and as he gave her a squeeze she yelled and kicked at him with all her might. She suddenly found herself free and falling, hitting the stone floor with a hard thump that jolted every bone in her body. Looking up, Madara was nowhere to be seen.

"Someone will be with you shortly to show you to your duties." The voice seem to have come from right next to her ear, but Sakura saw no one. "If you try to run away, or if you don't do as you are asked, all those lovely little things I mentioned will come to pass."

Sakura was left in silence, but she still wasn't sure if she was alone.

"Welcome to Akatsuki, Haruno Sakura."

With that Sakura no longer felt his presence, or his sickening chakra. Everything she was holding in, the fear, the despair, the anger, hopelessness, and most of all the frustration overtook her at once, leaving her a shaking mass on the stone floor. Tears began to stream down as she tried to keep in her sobs, but soon those broke out with a loud yell.

* * *

A smirk grew spread upon Madara's lips as he listened outside the chamber at the sound of the crying girl. He was proud of what he had achieved. It had taken him a while to find her weakness, but it was satisfying as ever to exploit it. Now if only Sasuke was as easy to control…

"I trust everything is going as planned?" Zetsu appeared out of the wall nearby. "But of course it seems all your plans do." The other half continued.

"Yes, quite well." Madara responded. "Go inform one of Sasuke's team that there's a healer ready for them."

* * *

Sakura hated herself. She had gone so many years trying not to cry, but she was never one who found it easy to hide her emotions. She had started life as someone who cried at the slightest provocation, and though she tried to better herself, all she had learned over the years was how to cry silently where no one could watch her.

And so what started out as miserable sobs had soon turned into a silent, steady stream of tears of frustration. Sakura didn't know how long she had been crying alone in the darkness, but she was still doing so in a heap on the floor when she heard someone approaching the chamber in heavy footsteps. Faced with the possibility of Madara returning, or even another Akatsuki member, she quickly cut herself off and angrily wiped away her tears, mad at herself for wallowing in the self pity. She refused to show them anymore weakness. She knew her eyes would be bloodshot and puffy, but she really didn't care what others in Akatsuki thought of her appearance.

It was moments later after she sensed them that the person showed themself with a pale head popping into the entrance way she had for some reason missed earlier. Sakura began to wonder if her chamber was under a genjutsu. The chair Madara had sat at was now gone.

"Hey!" A cheery voice called. The boy it belonged to didn't look much older than her. "That weird black and white dude told me there was a new healer around here. Is that you?" The boy had lavender eyes, and pale white hair that took on an orange hue in the torch light. Behind him he carried a overly large sword strapped to his back, and he was watching her curiously as she picked herself off the floor and wiped away dirt. Unlike her previous visitor however, she didn't sense any sort of malice or ill intent.

"Are you the healer?" He repeated.

Sakura nodded her head slowly, finding that she didn't have confidence in her voice yet to speak.

"Wow, you're the first girl I've seen around here. And you're Akatasuki?" He grinned, and his teeth reflected the light in a jagged row that resembled Kisame's exactly. The sight made her her take a step back for a second. "I'm Hozuki Suigetsu, at your service!" He grinned. "Ok, not really at your service, but someone cute like you can ask for a favor anytime." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Haruno Sakura." Sakura quietly let out before standing next to Suigetsu.

"You've been crying?"

Sakura chose not to answer leaving him to stand there awkwardly in the silence until he aparently remembered why he was there. "Anyway, healing! This way!" He led her out of the chamber and Sakura found herself in a series of stone tunnels apparently connecting what she assumed were other caves behind wooden doors she passed. The torches made their shadows dance as they walked by while Sakura focused on stepping one foot in front of the other, not really paying attention to what Suigetsu was saying. She was aware he had been speaking practically non-stop since he found her, but she just couldn't bring herself to focus.

"We were out on a mission, minding out own business, when he suddenly was just stabbed, clean through, by some dude with the ability to control wood."

_Wood…_

"I'm sorry… but the wood user… was his name by any chance Yamato?" She quietly questioned, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"Eh? Yamato…nah?" He took on a thoughtful expression then that reminded her a bit of how Naruto looked when he was thinking very hard. "It was like, Haya-somehting Youji. He had a kid. Looked like we were about to just leave him too when he decided to be an idiot. Now his kid's an orphan. Oh well, survival of the fittest."

Nothing at all like Naruto. She had to wonder for a moment why she even made the comparison to begin with.

Sakura didn't really absorb any of what he said once he mentioned the wood user's unfortunate end. This sort of thing, blood, and murder spoken about so lightly, she supposed was about to become her daily life. She numbly wondered if she was in a state of shock.

"So yeah, the wood guy just pierced through him, and blood was suddenly everywhere. I didn't know what the fuck to do, luckily Juugo was clam enough to administer some quick first aid with bandages and junk. Slowed the bleeding I guess, but heh, damn was he bleeding.

We used to have a girl named Karin- total annoying bitch, nothing at all like you, but I just met you – anyway, Karin, all we'd have to do was bite her, and bam, we're fixed, but she's gone, dead. So now, we're pretty much screwed unless you can fix him."

They had just made a turn when Suigetsu halted abruptly and began to open a door when Sakura realized suddenly she didn't have her medical pack, or her cloak for that matter. Apparently Kisame didn't see fit to grab her belongings when he abducted her.

She looked up as the wooden door squeaked open and her eyes immediately shot to a large figure with bright orange hair hovered over a cot. Funny how everything was reminding her of Naruto lately.

The room appeared to be well lit and in it Sakura recognized some medical equipment and cabinets. Was this the Akatsuki clinic? Was this where she'd now start spending most of her time in forced labor?

"Yo, Juugo, I found the new healer! How's he doing?"

Juugo turned towards them, away from the cot. "A healer? Can she help-"

"Sasuke…?" Sakura's eyes had fallen to the patient on the cot who was now visible since Juugo had moved to face Suigetsu. She stood there rooted to the spot, staring.

"Eh… you know him?" Suigetsu asked as Juugo eyed her curiously. "What the fuck is it with this dude and chicks?"

Sakura ignored Suigetsu and quickly approached the cot. Her eyes instantly shot at the bandages around Sasuke's abdomen. His white haori was loose, hanging from his pants at his waist, and the white material was stained red with ruby blossoms of blood. The bandages didn't even show any sign of white anymore since they were so completely soaked in blood. Sasuke himself was usually pale looking from what she could recall, but the pallor on him was unnatural. Deathly.

The movements of his chest told her he was giving short, shallow breaths, meaning internally he was struggling, and hopefully didn't have much internal damage or infections. Sakura rested a hand tenderly on his forehead and found it clammy, but no fever yet. Mostly cool, which wasn't a good sign. She lifted his wrist and checked his pulse – very light.

"He's lost a lot of blood…" She commented to no one in particular.

"Yeah, we had to carry him all the way from the Land of Mountains. Honestly I'm surprised he's still alive. He's a tough bastard, that one. If he were conscious, he would probably have insisted walking back the whole damn way by himself."

This was almost too much for Sakura. She had her life ripped apart even further, found herself apparently a slave to Akatsuki, and now her ex-team mate who she had mixed feelings about was dying before her?

Luckily while her heart tried to make sense of it all, the brain allowed the medic part of her to take over.

Sakura began tying her hair up and out of the way while her eyes darted around the room for the tools she'd need. She went to the sink to wash her hands and promptly found some disinfectant and rubber ties. She noted there was no sign of any coolers that stored blood.

Sakura immediately began prepping her arm for blood removable by tying the rubber band around her arm to plump her veins, knotting it tight with her teeth. She then began digging through the drawer with the needles for the winged infusion set she'd need.

"What are you doing?" The one she heard was called Juugo, asked.

"I'm going to draw some blood. Sasuke-k… Sauske is type AB, so unless one of you are also AB and willing to donate I'm going to have to give him some of my own blood. But he's lost a lot of it… I don't know if I have enough."

"I'm AB." Juugo replied helpfully, smiling.

Sakura stopped, and looked up at him, noticing him for the first time really and realizing how he had a kind, soft expression. He was even smiling at her. It didn't fit with the other Akatsuki members she had met so far.

"… Thank you. Go ahead and sit on that chair over there." She motioned to a stool near the bed, and once finding the needle she was looking for, walked up next to him and began prepping him. She had blood filling up the bag within four minutes. Juugo hadn't even winced when the needle penetrated his skin.

She then headed back to Sasuke and cut away the bandages to get a good look at the wound. It looked like whatever it was went straight through, and was clean from what she could see. She placed both hands, now glowing green, over the wound to get a good idea of the damage and began knitting the flesh together. She was pleased to see that none of his internal organs had been punctured, but then again if that was the case he probably would have died not long after receiving the wound.

Once she had closed the flesh in front, with heavy, now panting breathing she turned back to the other two, wiping away sweat that was now forming on her forehead. Juugo's bag was almost full of blood now, so he couldn't assist her. She looked to Suigetsu. "I need him to be flipped over so I can work on the other side, could you please-"

"Sure thing, babe!" He grinned, setting his gigantic sword she now recognized as previously belonging to Zazuba against the wall before happily flipping Sasuke over in a way she immediately didn't approve of for a patient. He was much too rough just flipping him over and letting him fall. Sasuke, still unconcious, grunted.

Sakura however didn't comment on the rough handling (or the nickname) and instead went back to working on Sasuke. She had to close the entrance wound on his back, and managed to do so but at a slower pace than the front. As she continued to knit the skin around the flesh wound together she could feel herself gradually becoming more and more tired.

However once it was all healed up she tugged Sauske back over so that he was back to resting on his back, and walked back to Juugo. She promptly took the blood with a thank you, returned back to the cot and began hooking the bag up to Sasuke, but before she could finish she collapsed forward, head now going dizzy. She laughed at the thought that she had actually considering giving blood in her state. If she did she would have passed out long ago, signing both their death certificates.

"Oi, are you ok?" Suigetsu asked, helping her up. She saw that both he and Juugo had worried expressions on their faces. "Sorry… I…"

"Here." Juugo took the bag from her and finished hooking it up to the drip before turning back to her, lifting her up and setting her in a another cot. "Rest. That healing apparently drained you."

"Thank you…." Sakura quietly whispered before allowing sleep to consume her.

* * *

_.__ちる花や已におのれも下り坂_

_chiru hana ya sude ni onore mo kudarizaka_

_cherry blossoms scatter-_

_my life too is heading_

_downhill_

_

* * *

_

_A/N: I for some reasons don't like this chapter, and some things I made Madara say, but well… Sakura is now in a group full of some very evil sounding dudes in my opinion. I mean come on, they're a criminal organization. They don't play nice._

_Poor Sakura. I don't know when she'll ever get a break in this story to be honest._


	8. The Boy Who Giggled So Sweet

_Thanks to Moony, Ren-Stranger, k-girl45, Darkpuppy99 (really, thanks for all the reviews XD), Moonwaterpetal, Ioreith, _C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, starsandstuff, and blondebarbievamp. So many fantastic reviews got this chapter out a couple days early.

_**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **_

_**

* * *

**_

_Previously:_

"_Oi, are you ok?" Suigetsu asked, helping her up. She saw that both he and Juugo had worried expressions on their faces. "Sorry… I…" _

"_Here." Juugo took the bag from her and finished hooking it up to the drip before turning back to her, lifting her up and setting her in a another cot. "Rest. That healing apparently drained you."_

"_Thank you…." Sakura quietly whispered before allowing sleep to consume her._

_

* * *

_

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 8: The Boy Who Giggled So Sweet

_.__雲と見し桜は炭にやかれけり_

_kumo to mishi sakura wa sumi ni yakare keri_

_

* * *

_

Sasuke could tell he was in a medical facility long before he opened his eyes. The too familiar stinging scent of antiseptic that stung at his nostrils was all his senses needed to tell me that he was in the cold, meticulously uncontaminated environment he practically grew up in. Be it in Konoha after the massacre, through his Genin days, to Kabuto, Sauske knew it well, and wanted out.

However, the annoyance of being in such a place meant he was alive.

Slowly he opened his eyes and found himself looking at a stone ceiling, more than likely in the current Akatsuki hideout. He sat up slowly and began inspecting himself and found his wound closed with new, pink skin, and an iv dripping into his arm. Still, that didn't stop the rush of blood to his head when he sat up, or the memory of being ran through and gushing blood. He had been an idiot for putting his guard down.

It was when Sasuke began to actually look at his surroundings that his eyes were attracted to a pink mop of color not to far from him, and confusion hit. Sakura, his ex-teammate, lay in a cot in the same room as him. His eyes darted around him, wondering if he had somehow had been captured and brought to Konoha in his unconscious state. Sasuke ignored how his body practically screamed in objection as he tensed, preparing to run or fight. It was only when his eyes rested on Juugo who quietly sat not too far away that his panic lessened. He was surprised he had missed him.

"Glad to have you back, Sasuke-sama." The large man smiled.

If he were in Konoha it was doubtful that Juugo would be left alone with him, or the pink haired girl not too far away. What was she doing there?

Sasuke grunted as he threw his legs over the side of the bed before roughly pulling out the IVs from his arm.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Sasuke-sama. Haruno-san passed out before she could tell us any more about your condition. You've been unconscious for almost a day, since the fight with the wood-user. Haruno-san passed out after tending to your injuries, and hasn't woken since." Juugo always had so much concern in his voice. Sasuke never asked for any of it.

Sasuke's eyes fell back to the girl, face as emotionless as ever as he tried to figure out any possible reason for her to be there. Had she been captured?

"Why is she here?" He questioned, still not looking away from her. She was breathing deeply and showed no signs that she'd awaken any time soon.

"The one who is two colors told us when we arrived that she was a new healer. That's all I know about her, other than she's the one who saved your life, of course."

Sasuke began standing up and Juugo stood, immediately offering him arm which Sasuke promptly pushed away, refusing. He didn't need another sign of weakness to go along with the mistake he made on the mission.

"I don't think you should be up yet, Sasuke-sama."

Sasuke continued to ignore Juugo's concern, fully aware of his limits. His wounds were healed, he was conscious, that was all he needed. "Where's Madara?"

"Be careful of your wound, you're still recovering." Sasuke didn't say a word more in response as he slowly made his way out of the door.

It took Sasuke longer than usual to make his was down the winding stone hallways. Using one hand against the cold stone a support, he finally found his way into Madara's personal chamber. There his ancestor sat at a table, overlooking charts and scrolls in the lamp light. His head turned toward him when Sasuke stepped into the room, clutching his still painful abdomen.

"Ah, Sasuke-san, you're alive. Nice to see our newest addition can do her job."

"Why is she here." Sasuke practically growled and gave Madara a glare to match.

"Sakura-san? Ah, well of course, what other female is now among us that you would be referring to?" Madara laughed as he leaned back, apparently amused with the fact. It was obvious to Sasuke that he was referring to Karin, their last female member who was disposed of.

"Oh, don't look so sour about it. I trust Haruno Sakura completely. I know her reasons for being here, and trust me when I say your fears of her giving us up, if that is what is troubling you, are groundless. Haruno Sakura is exiled from Konoha. She, like you, is a missing-nin. She no longer has a reason to be loyal to the Leaf."

Sakura, a missing-nin? Sasuke was skeptical, and if it were true there was something Madara was leaving out. Even if Sakura was now exiled from Konoha she wasn't on the level of Akatsuki to join. There had to be a reason she was here, a reason Madara wanted her. Never before had Akatsuki needed a medic to his knowledge, why get one now? And the fact that she was here when his team arrived from the botched mission? Madara couldn't have known he'd be injured ahead of time. "Why is she here?" His eyes narrowed as he found himself quickly began loosing patience. He didn't like repeating himself, only to have Madara beat around the bush.

"She's a talented healer, as I'm sure you've discovered."

"You expect me to believe that's all you need now to be accepted into Akatsuki?"

Madara laughed again. "Ah, Sasuke-san, I can't put anything past you, can I? You're much too clever for that."

Sasuke only saw that answer as another attempt to change the subject. His eyes now spun red with the Sharingan. "Get on with it."

"Very well. Yes, Sakura-san is here for medic-duties, but that's not her main reason for being here Sasuke. Forgive me for not coming straight out with it, I did not mean to rile you up."

Seeing no response from Sasuke, Madara continued.

"Haruno-san is here to assist YOU." He finally replied lazily as he rested his head on folded hands.

"I don't need her help."

"Your recent brush with death would state otherwise. You're too valuable to die on me Sasuke. You and I are the last of the Uchiha. I can't let my only relative, as well as my partner in vengeance die. However, outside of healing, as I mentioned, Sakura is also here for other reasons."

"Tell me them already." Sasuke's fist began to spark with blue electricity, signaling what patience he had left for Madara's games.

"Very well, descendant of mine; To everyone else, Haruno-san is here to play medic, but her true purpose is one she's not even aware of yet, and like I said, it's all to help you." Sasuke stayed silent, still steaming.

"You've said this already."

"You're training to control chi, the Yin and Yang element. How is it going?"

In a flash Sasuke had his sword out, and hanging dangerously close to Madara's throat. Blue electricity lit them both up as it pulsated through the metal.

Madara began to chuckle. "I'm not off subject at all, calm down. What I was referring to was your difficulty in mastering Yin and Yang chakra. You're one of the most adept shinobi out there, perhaps even more talented than I was at your age. You're capable of learning most anything, but this however, Yin and Yang, seems a bit difficult for you to grasp, which isn't surprising what with all you've been through. Very few shinobi can manipulate it, and mastering it can take years, decades even. You're actually doing quite well for how long you've been at it, but results are still far off. This technique is practically a lost art, one very few know how to use, which brings us to Sakura-san. "

"There used to be a practice among most shinobi clans that involved arranged marriages based on a person's specifics, covering everything from their astrological sign to their elemental affinity in chakra use. Matchmakers were trained to group couples that balanced each other best, and the theory was that they were halves, and put together they made each other stronger. Essentially these people balanced each other out. In turn, their shinobi skills in combat were enhanced, and their offspring were stronger, and in turn their clan became stronger through such unions."

"The practice has all but died out in most clans, but is still practiced among matchmakers. However the original purpose for the tradition is all practically forgotten with everyone still living. What the original purpose of such unions was was naturally attaining Yin-Yang balance. Shinobi paired with a balanced half suddenly found it easier to manipulate the element. The purpose has long since been forgotten, but people continue to use it because in traditions are hard to die out. Still, for those who know of it it's an undeniably one of the best routes to take for someone who wishes to attain a properly balanced mind and soul."

Sasuke didn't move an inch as his mind processed the information, not at all liking what was being suggested. His frown deepened along with his glare. "Find someone else."

"We tested over a hundred girls Sasuke, even that Karin girl who was on your team. Some were possibilities, but none of them scored anywhere near the level of Haruno-san. The matchmaker who was conducting the tests was very proud, claiming such a match only came once every couple of decades for someone in her line of work, if it happened at all. It's just a coincidence that the girl is a former teammate of yours."

"I am not marrying her."

Madara full out laughed at that. "No one said you had to get married, Sasuke. Marriage has nothing to do with what you're striving to achieve, which is inner balance. This just requires you to be around her, join with her on occasion. Most men wouldn't have a problem with this. All I'm doing providing you a tool for you to better yourself with. What you chose to do with it is up to you."

"And if I refuse?"

"I'll continue to wait for you to progress in your training with your current method, and Haruno-san will continue to work here as medic until she is no longer needed, or she encounters some unfortunate end. Meanwhile Danzo, and all of Konohagakure, will go about with their daily lives, living out in bliss, continuing not to pay for their injustice and Uchiha blood they have spilt."

Sasuke's eyes continued to glare, but he backed off and re-sheathed his katana. "I don't want her."

"Very well, but realize Sasuke that when a way to power shows itself, you should never hesitate to take hold of it. I'll remind you too that you have your brother's eyes at your disposal whenever you see fit to make use of them."

* * *

"Billboard brow, billboard brow!"

_Stop it._

She wouldn't cry, Ino would get mad at her for crying again. The taller, blond girl had tried so hard in instructing Sakura to stand tall against such bullies, but here she was again, just taking it.

"Leave her alone, you idiots." A boy's voice demanded. She could hear their footsteps quickly approaching.

"Ahhh, it's Sasuke! Run!"

And with that they had left her. Awkwardly she looked up, having taken to hiding her head in her knees when they started teasing, and there was the boy who had chased them away, one dark eyebrow raised questionably as he looked down on her. Sakura recognized him from their class, but couldn't remember his name, she had always been too shy really to look up at any of her classmates.

"Are you ok?"

"Y-yes… " she murmured, turning red, shy as always when talking to new people, hoping he wasn't focused on her huge forehead. "Thank… you."

It was with that he smiled at her, and it lit up absolutely everything. She suddenly found him to be pretty, and she had never, not once up til that point, thought a boy to be anything close to pretty. But that smile did it.

"It's no problem! Girls are supposed to be treated nicely. At least, that's what my brother told me," the boy puffed out his chest and lowered his voice. "An Uchiha never lets a girl go about being mistreated if he can do something about it! He's not a man otherwise!'" It was obviously something he was lectured on, but he looked so happy to recite it. He was no longer looking at her, but still smiling, and so proud of what he had learned and practiced. He had saved her.

Suddenly he went pale, and the world around them went black. Sasuke fell to the ground without a sound and puddles of scarlet were growing around him. Blood was everywhere, and suddenly it was no longer a seven year old boy she had before her, motionless, but the sixteen year old.

His eyes were dull and lifeless as he looked up.

"Sa…sasuke-kun?" He was dead? Her heart raced as she rushed to his side to start healing him, but as she willed her chakra to her hands, she found nothing was happening. She couldn't do anything. Her hands were still small, like that of a small child, and now they were covered in his blood. "Sasuke-kun? Don't die!" No matter what she did, she couldn't get them to glow green. She was so useless…

"Sasuke!"

Sakura's eyes snapped open as she bolted up-right, panting. Sakura found she was shivering, her wits on end due to the nightmare that had twisted one of her earliest memories of Sasuke. Her fingers clutched at the sheet covering her as she began to take deep breaths. She hadn't been able to save him, but… she did, didn't she? She shot a look over to Sasuke's bed and found it to be empty, but forced herself not to panic as memories came back clearly of what happened. She HAD healed him. He HAD been stable before she passed out. An empty cot more than likely meant one thing, and she refused to think any more on it. He wasn't one to thank anyone, and he wasn't one to be babied. She could recall quite clearly how often he'd leave the hospital rooms back in Konoha, even going so far as to fight while still in bandages. He had just left.

Forcing her mind not thinking about him was hard. Her medical instinct still wanted her to check up on him, but somehow she knew she'd be rejected. Still, if she could at least see that he was ok…

But weren't these sorts of feelings exactly what made her such a perfect scapegoat? If she continued down this, most all the charges might as well have been true. If her friends were to see her now, worrying over Sasuke, they'd never believe she was innocent from the start.

So instead Sakura stretched and got up to start properly exploring (some would call it snooping) the room around her she was to assume would be her working place, determined to get her mind off him.

She hadn't quite come to terms with her forced membership with Akatsuki, but she was determined to make the best of it. One main aspect of that was that they needed Naruto. If she stayed with them long enough, they'd eventually lead her straight to him, wouldn't they?

That thought however didn't lessen the feeling in her stomach that was akin to a large number of rocks moving about. If she didn't go with what they said, she didn't doubt Madara's capability for going through with what he said one bit. What the history records had said about him suggested that he was cold, calculating, and willing to do things others would squirm at. His own clan had exiled him, though she wasn't quite sure as to the details of why.

All the more reason for her to keep on her toes around him, and consider herself a prisoner. A prisoner with no means of escape yet.

Sakura worriedly chewed on the bottom of her lip as she inspected the medical supplies in a few more cabinets. How was she supposed to get out of this mess? Unless she could get Madara to let her go the only other way to protect her mother and Tsunade from him would be his death. Could she do such a thing with a ninja of his caliber?

Sure, she was now situation close to him, but she wasn't a fool enough to think of fighting him head on. Poison? Surely he'd be suspicious of her with anything she approached him with, if she could even approach him.

Get someone else to kill him? Unlikely with the lack of allies she had here. That meant her only option was to stay on his good side, and hope to gain his trust. If anything it'd make it more likely for her to hear news of Naruto, and for him to lower his guard. But the very idea of what she'd have to do to gain his trust made the sick feeling in her stomach multiply to the point she felt nauseated. What if he asked her to kill someone? A criminal she could probably stomach, but someone innocent? She'd rather die, but at the cost of her mother and Tsunade's life?

"Ah, you're awake." Sakura twitched at being caught unaware and spun around to find the orange haired man from earlier at the doorway, holding a covered tray. Juugo, was it? Still, she didn't lower her guard at all. These were all criminals she found herself surrounded by now, and there was really no reason for any of them to respect her enough to leave her alone.

"Sorry to startle you. I brought you some food from the kitchen; I thought you might be hungry after sleeping for so long."

Sakura wished she could read people better. Juugo seemed like a kind man, but there had to be something about him to make him join Akatsuki. She cautiously looked down at the tray of food he was now uncovering to reveal rice and slices of meat. Her previously heavy stomach began to growl. Oh yeah, she was hungry, but could she trust what he was offering her? What if it was drugged?

"Aren't you hungry."

"I… yes…" Sakura stepped forward and decided to risk it, hoping there was some sort of honor among thieves or something similar. Really though, he had no reason to harm her, right? Not if she were a member now. She gratefully accepted the bowl with a thank you before sitting down on a stool and ate, forcing herself to slow down from the rabid pace her brain egged her on to eat at.

"Sasuke-sama's wound was rather severe. I honestly thought he would die, but you…. You're very talented in healing. Thank you for saving Sasuke-sama." Juugo smiled softly at her.

Sakura lowered her chopsticks while she thought of a way to approach the subject. "… What is Sasuke to you?" Juugo's brows raised slightly at the question before smiling that soft, gentle smile again.

"Sasuke-sama is my… my friend, though I don't think he'd call himself that, or think of me as one. But he… he saves me from myself. Without him, I'd be nothing more than a monster stuck in a dark cave, alone to face my own madness."

That was far from the answer Sakura was expecting. Was Juugo hinting at some sort of mental illness? Some sort of reaction he couldn't control? If so, she supposed it was inappropriate to ask at the current point in time. "So are you teammates?"

"Yes… I'm a part of his team. Suigetsu as well."

"The boy with the pointy teeth and white hair?"

He gave her another kind smile. "Yes, that's Suigetsu. We both owe Sasuke a debt of sorts, so we assist him."

Sakura thought on this, unsure of what to say as she continued to eat more. Her stomach she found was most pleased.

"If you don't mind my asking, where are you from, Haruno-san?"

"Konoha…"

"Ah… do you know Sasuke?"

Sakura had finished with the bowl, and set it back on the tray. As she turned she purposely avoided looking at Juugo. "Once… long ago I knew him."

"Ah." And with that it seemed the subject was over. "Well, I thank you again for saving him. He may not worry about himself, but I at least do."

"I have to be going, but if you would like I could show you a quick tour of this place, and your chambers?

"Th… thank you…" Sakura slowly bowed her head.

* * *

Juugo had shown her around the caves, pointing out some of the most important things, such as the exit and the kitchens, before showing her to her room and leaving her.

Her room held a basic cot, bathroom, and small wardrobe with some basic clothes that appeared to be in her size. On a stool near the bed however she had found a black cloak, folded. Picking it up for inspection revealed red clouds; the official uniform of an Akatsuki member.

Sakura couldn't help but make a face in disgust. The very thought of putting it on made her want to destroy it here and now. However, Madara's mask came into mind, along with his threat if she were to no cooperate, so instead she folded it back up and decided she'd only wear it if she were commanded to do so.

She had then spent the rest of the day in her room, not at all wanting to venture out yet, but the next day she was hit once again with hunger.

And so she found herself walking through the stone hallways, heading for the area Juugo had shown her that worked as a sort of kitchen.

One man was in charge of organizing and feeding anyone who walked in, and Sakura, having not eaten anything outside of what Juugo had offered her found her stomach was once again ravenous for food. The lack of it meant her chakra had not recharged anywhere near the speed it usually does, and in all it left her feeling sluggish as she walked down the hallway.

Turning a corner she found herself in another cave-like chamber, meaning she more than likely made a wrong turn. She was about to turn around, but froze as something caught her eye. The chamber had a lone beam of light from a crack in the ceiling that broke through the darkness and filled the chamber up with light. There in the beam, seemingly basking in the light, sat Sasuke, legs folded and in a meditative position not unlike what she often saw Shikamaru take.

Uchiha Sasuke, the boy she had once loved, who had also attempted to kill her on various occasions. Yet looking at him all she could think about what how the light hit him, making him glow in the beam, creating the appearance of something celestial, as if he was from the heavens themself. A face of an angel that belonged to a person so broken and torn, lost in darkness.

Sakura didn't know the first thing she'd say to him, and didn't at all feel ready to confront him. As much as she wanted to count on Sasuke for support, he had made it obvious he wanted nothing to do with her or Naruto, and the fact that she hadn't seen him since she healed him told her he didn't have much of an inclination to see her.

So with that on her mind Sakura quietly began to turn around to tip toe away from the chamber, but before leaving gave one final look over her shoulder at Sasuke, only to find the place he sat to be empty.

Suddenly realizing someone was in front of her, Sakura spun around, kunai at the ready (she was NOT walking around the Akatsuki hideout without a form of defense) only to have her wrist painfully twisted.

Looking up she wasn't at all surprised to see that Sasuke was the one with a hold on her wrist. He looked down at her with cold, narrow eyes, and not even blinking, gave her wrist another twist, forcing Sakura to drop the kunai. She bit her lip to keep her painful cry to herself, but still she winced.

His hold on her wrist didn't lesson after the kunai had hit the stone floor with a clunk that seemed to echo down the hall.

"Sasuke… you're hurting me." Sakura finally let out after feebly attempting to take her wrist back. At the angle he held it any major movement could break it, so moving sent jolts of pain through her arm.

"Are you here to try and kill me again?" He looked down at her, emotionless to a point that it sent a shiver down her spine. All she wanted to do was get away.

"No." She responded as she began to pull at his vice grip. Instead she found herself quickly pinned once again against the stone walls with his arm, with him looking down at her still with the same expression. She couldn't read anything from those eyes and it scared her.

Somewhere in a part of her mind not completely frozen she noted idly at how tall he had gotten. He was a full head and a half taller than her at the very least now. And still, frustratingly, breathtaking.

"What are you doing here." Cold, monotone.

"Please Sasuke-kun, let go of me. You're hurting me-"

"Answer the question." He squeezed a bit more pressure on her wrist, but she refused to make a noise.

"Kisame brought me here. I didn't come by choice. Madara wants me to be Akatsuki's medic, now please, let me go!" She didn't think at this rate she could hold back any reactions the pain was sending through her, and the last thing she wanted to do was show weakness to anyone in Akatsuki, especially Sasuke.

"Hnn." He let go of her and looked away before promptly beginning to walk away from her. Sakura rubbed at her now tender wrist before noticing him leaving.

"Sasuke-kun, wait!"

He stopped and looked over her shoulder, not looking at all pleased. She suddenly felt like a fool for adding a kun to his name, but it was a habit, and if not kun, what would she call him? Still, she no longer felt comfortable saying it.

"Naruto and Kakashi-sensei have disappeared… I was wondering if you knew anything about them." She looked at him hopefully.

He instead turned back around, and without another look in her direction continued on his way with a sharp "No."

Sakura had lost her appetite and instead made it back to her chamber, this paying the utmost attention so that she wouldn't find herself making another wrong turn. It was while sitting on her bed, staring at the wrist Sasuke had twisted that there was a knock at her door. Sakura opened it expecting it to be the silent, short woman who came by to pick up laundry. Instead she was met with a giant mass of black and red. Craning her neck back she found herself looking up to a blue face giving her a shark-like grin.

"Get packed little girl. I've got a mission to do, and you're to accompany me."

* * *

_.__雲と見し桜は炭にやかれけり_

_kumo to mishi sakura wa sumi ni yakare keri_

_the cherry tree_

_that made blossom clouds_

_becomes charcoal_

_

* * *

_

_A/N:_

_Wow, almost 5k words this chatper. I like how I'm finding it's becoming easier and easier to just write up a storm. So anyway, we have Sakura's first meeting with Sasuke in a long while. Sorry if anyone was expecting anything… fluffy. But fluffy, if I even touch it, is a long ways off. Sasuke is such a frakking douche right now, he pisses me off. Lately I don't know why I even like the Sakura/Sasuke couple, but then I'm reminded of the time skip and I get that warm, fuzzy feeling thinking about them, but omfg I want to punch Sasuke in the head or something. That guy has gone completely nuts. And Sakura continues to lose it. Bother it all. So I'll continue writing my fic out in a way I hope will result in Sasuke having some character development into lesser-asshole territory._

_Anyway, I hoped this chapter wasn't too boring for people. Someone mentioned I don't do cliffhangers, and that they liked that but… I do plan on some eventually. I just have a lot of things I'm trying to work in right now, and I'm finding it's becoming a challenge to try and make they work into the story fluidly._


	9. Black Sheep

Chapter 9 finale draft:

I am so sorry it took so long to get this out. Half of it was the fact I moved across the country to attend a new school (which is now in progress) and the other half was I was honestly in a sort of writer's block. I knew somewhat what I wanted to do in terms of Yin and Yang, but I didn't know how to go about implementing it. The recent chapter of Naruto finally went into some detail with Yin and Yang, which is still rather abstract in the whole jutsu/chakra description, but it's enough for me to work with and re-inspire me. Let's see if I can get this ball rolling again.

_**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Previously:_

_Sasuke-kun, wait!"_

_He stopped and looked over her shoulder, not looking at all pleased. She suddenly felt like a fool for adding a kun to his name, but it was a habit, and if not kun, what would she call him? Still, she no longer felt comfortable saying it._

_"Naruto and Kakashi-sensei have disappeared… I was wondering if you knew anything about them." She looked at him hopefully._

_He instead turned back around, and without another look in her direction continued on his way with a sharp "No."_

_Sakura had lost her appetite and instead made it back to her chamber, this paying the utmost attention so that she wouldn't find herself making another wrong turn. It was while sitting on her bed, staring at the wrist Sasuke had twisted that there was a knock at her door. Sakura opened it expecting it to be the silent, short woman who came by to pick up laundry. Instead she was met with a giant mass of black and red. Craning her neck back she found herself looking up to a blue face giving her a shark-like grin._

_"Get packed little girl. I've got a mission to do, and you're to accompany me."_

_

* * *

_

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 9: Black Sheep

_.__花の雨ことしも罪を作りけり_

_hana no ame kotoshi mo tsumi wo tsukuri keri_

* * *

Flying from the trees once more down to the ground, Sakura struggled to keep her balance as her feet made impact on soil that was quickly on the verge to becoming mud. Her feet were slowly sinking as she stood, and provided squelching sounds when she moved them.

Far off in the east through the random spaces between trees the rays of the sun were slowly breaking through, alighting the forest otherwise heavy with wet, damp foliage. The sun rising meant the coming of a new day, and Sakura heaved a sigh at the thought.

It being sunrise meant Sakura had now been traveling for almost eighteen hours. Eighteen straight hours of tree hopping in the dark, which was a challenge enough without the grueling pace her _teammate_ had set. Never before had she traveled for such a long distance, and honestly was amazed she could still manage to stand without the aid of a stimulate or chakra pill.

Now what little strength she had left was wasted an pulling her lead heavy feet out of mud.

Not too far ahead of her Kisame could be seen, ever the intimidating sight with his height and Samehada slung over a shoulder. He was watching her with his dark, beady eyes and grinning, giving Sakura the creeps as the morning light highlighted his razor-like teeth. "Would you like to rest, little kunoichi?"

Sakura approached the blue shinobi cautiously and silently. She had managed to avoid speaking a single word to the criminal the whole trip and wanted the trend to continue. If the situation called for it she would talk, but otherwise she wanted to avoid speaking with him as much as possible. It was at this moment as she was weighing whether it was worth breaking her silence to ask for a break.

That, and she was anxious to know just what she would have to do on this mission. All Kisame had originally told her was that she was to go on a mission with him, and to pack. From there he made idle chatter, commenting on insignificant observations on everything from the weather to the civilians they passed along, to the random joke he would crack and laugh over by himself. Through it all however, not a word about their mission objective had been uttered.

Sakura was torn. Half of her wanted to know what exactly she was expected to do, but her other half rather stay in denial and not know for fear that she'd turn around that very moment and leave. From what she heard, leaving Akatsuki wasn't really a choice unless you were on par with Orochimaru's abilities.

Even if she could leave, she wouldn't. Sakura had come to the conclusion that If it were just herself on the line she'd have left long ago when it was obvious Akatsuki didn't have Naruto. But she needed to stay. Infiltration of a group like Akatsuki was something many villages would kill to have. The information she attained here could maybe even help her be welcomed back to Konoha, and that's not even mentioning the help she could do Naruto, wherever he was. Akatsuki was Naruto's prime threat, and if anyone could find him, they would. She would just need to make sure she got to him first, and when she did sort of weakness she discovered in Akatsuki could be a game changer in a fight.

Sitting alone, staring at the cave walls of her chamber late into the night had given Sakura plenty of time to reason out some positives about her situation. She needed to justify her choice of being there, not that it was much of a choice with the threat over her mother and Tsunade. Unless she was killed, or Madara somehow died, that threat would probably always be there.

Which meant in the end all she could do was promise herself that whatever Madara wanted her to do, she would no harm innocent people. If she didn't she'd probably go crazy.

"I'd keep going, but I rather you not die on me before we get there. We'll just sleep here for about five hours, and continue on around noon, that sound good?" The shark-man went on.

Sakura looked around, and though the small clearing wasn't the most welcoming or driest of areas, she currently felt like she could sleep standing up if she had to. It barely crossed her mind that Kisame had stopped because of the state she was in, and without thinking, responded with a small "Thank You" before rummaging through the bag she had packed to remove a small blanket.

"Oh ho, you speak!" He gave a small chuckle from the base of a tree he was now resting against, his sword next to him. "You don't talk much, little kunoichi. I like that about you."

Sakura chose to ignore him and the fact he was watching her as she kicked away some rocks and twigs from a small area to lay on. She was regretting for what had to be the 100th time that day leaving in her room the Akatsuki cloak she was given. The very idea of wearing it made her skin crawl, but if it were void of the red clouds, she would have happily wrapped it around herself for all the traveling they had done. Through a small rain shower, branches, bugs, and more, she hated the fact she hadn't a decent traveling cloak on her to protect her from the elements. Her pride be damned at this point; she'd wear the cloak of a traitor if the alternative was freezing to death.

She tightly wrapped the thin blanket around her as much as possible in a desperate attempt to keep warm before resigning to the muddy ground. Maybe sleeping in a tree would be better.

"If you get cold just feel free to sleep over here with me at anytime, kunoichi. I don't mind it if you're shy."

Sakura only tightened the blanket around her, glaring at Kisame's form. Though she couldn't see his expression, she knew he was grinning his shark like smile, and the very idea sent shivers down her spine. He was now chuckling away as if what he said was a funny joke.

Sakura clenched her eyes tight, willing herself to sleep, yet wondering if it was a futile attempt.

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga quietly walked down the roads, ever aware of the setting sun that would soon signal the beginning of curfew.

The curfew was established to help Konoha's resources and manpower as it licked it's wounds from Pain's attack. Fewer people on the streets at night meant less shinobi were needed for security patrols in the city. The downside now however was that people were forbidden from leaving their homes at night. Anyone moving about past sundown was expected to have a documented pass that announced to the patrols their official Hokage-approved business.

Hinata didn't have such a pass, so as the sun continued its descent behind the Hokage monument the she quickened her steps as she passed another newly constructed apartment building.

Thanks to the countless builders hired from surrounding countries Konoha was steadily growing in size again. Families now mostly had their own home again, and the taller buildings were throwing long shadows that she now rushed through.

A few more turns in the streets and she soon came in view of the small one story estate that was her destination. She sped through the gate featuring a delicate carving of a deer and a circular brand with a line clashed through it before promptly rapping at the wooden door.

Footsteps were soon heard before the door was pulled open revealing Shikamaru, still in his shinobi gear, fresh from a mission.

"Hinata..." He raised an eyebrow at her before taking note of the quickly setting sun over her shoulder. "Curfew will start soon, as I'm sure you're aware. What can I help you with?"

Hinata bit down on her lip slightly, refusing to stutter. Under her cloak however she was wringing her hands, always nervous around people she wasn't too familiar with. Shikamaru was of her generation, but he wasn't part of her team, or one of her fellow medic peers. "I'm s.. sorry to bother you, Shikamaru-kun." She began, head lowered before forcing herself to look him in the eye. "But I needed to know... you're team has been on patrol now for two weeks on the boarder... have you any news of N... news of Team Seven."

Shikamaru sighed as he leaned against the door frame, relaxing into his usual lazy manner. "There are many things not happening at the border, Hinata, meaning many things are happening elsewhere. News of Naruto and the rest of them... well there isn't any. Believe me though when I say I've kept my ear out for it. We all have."

"Danzo-sama said an investigation team had been organized... you're usually a part of the Hokage's command so I wondered if you knew of the team..."

"The Fifth was the one who thought me useful in helping out, not that I ever understood it. But the 6th... che'-. It seems he doesn't want anyone at all connected with the 5th's administration near him."

Sakura was surprised at hearing that. "The whole administration? But why? We're all of Konoha-"

"Politics, Hinata. Be it the clans, the elders, Root, or anyone else, Konoha has always been split by this sort of bickering."

"I... I see." She knew all to well the associated hate and mistrust that came with selecting sides. Her shoulders slumped as she stared down at her feet, wondering bitterly what more she could do but wait and worry.

A hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder, and her head jolted up, eyes wide at Shikamaru who was smiling down at her. "Don't worry Hinata, if there's anyone from Konoha I believe in, it's Naruto. He's got to be ok. Be that as it may though, I, like you, won't stop worrying until that dolt is back with us." He stood up straight again, and put his hands in his pockets. "I'll look into that team Danzo created, and I'll get back to you if I learn anything."

Hinata smiled widely back before nodding her head. "... Thank you, Shikamaru-kun."

"No problem, now hurry up and get home before you get in trouble. Neiji will probably blame me otherwise."

* * *

"Concentrate, Uchiha-sama. Succeeding in finding the right balance here means that the force of your attack with be strengthened double, triple, maybe even four-fold. You have mastered the shaping of lightning, but have yet to achieve that with fire. This is more than likely because fire spreads, consumes on oxygen. It cannot be dense like lightning, and therefore is more of a challenge. Water is like the lightning in this case, but foreign to you."

"Inside you need to be tranquil, void of all thoughts but the fire, of creating shape. No hate, no love, no fear, no anger."

Sasuke was getting very impatient with all the old man's talking. The Uchiha had been sitting in a meditative pose now for hours, blindfolded, hands hovering over a small stream that flowed through the cave.

"If you succeed, your fire jutsu will be just as powerful as your lightning, if not greater. You will be considered a true fire master, and would be able to use the skill with lightning as well. The understanding will strengthen you mentally as well as physically, and once you have mastered the theory, the usage could even be used in genjutsu as well. Some who have mastered this, though they have never mastered other elements they have no affinity for, have managed to actually use it on other chakra attacks, bending another person's elemental attack to the point where you could make it completely miss you."

"This, however, is all but just a single technique you can use Yin-Yang for. The possibilities with Yin-Yang elemental are only limited by the user and their imagination. We're only starting with something simple and basic."

Sasuke set his jaw as he continued to attempt at concentrating, but the old man's voice was beginning to grate at his patience.

"Think of your chakra, how it moves through you veins, giving you energy and attacks. Now picture how that is, but covered completely by another force all over your body, an aura even. This is your chi, another energy force rarely even used by shinobi. It allows us to enhance chakra, mold it, solidify it, bend other chakra to our will, and even create life."

"The ultimate test for you here will be to bend this stream of water to your will. You cannot produce the element, but you can use your energy to move chakra, and chakra is in everything, even this water. Such ability, in battle, can give you a huge advantage."

Sasuke could now feel the sweat steadily dripping down his skin as his hands hovered over the the water. He had been at it for over four hours now, and was tired of the lectures, and no progress whatsoever after days of work, not even a ripple. Never before had he worked at something for so long yet only to find himself with no reward for his hard effort.

Frustration at not being successful at something for once was getting at him, shortening the fuse of his temper.

"Perhaps we should end it for the day."

Sasuke pulled off the blindfold and glared at the old man. "No."

"Uchiha-sama, it is obvious to me while watching you that you still have internal conflict, be it from getting the water to bend, or something else within, you are not yet ready to do this."

"Maybe if I had a more competent teacher, I would be getting results."

"People study this for years, and never manage to do anything."

"I don't have years to waste studying something which I don't have proof is more than a myth." Sasuke all but growled.

"It exists."

"Then prove it."

The old man slowly closed is eyes before walking across the chamber, facing Sasuke. "You need to work on your impatience, Uchiha-sama, and your anger."

"Give me one good reason why."

The old man studied Sasuke with an emotionless, unreadable expression. Sasuke felt like his eyes were judging him, looking right through him, and he didn't like it. In the past he had reasons to put up with his instructors, but this man had yet to exhibit any such skill or power that Kakashi or Orochimaru had. He only respected power.

"Uchiha-sama, I will indulge you with an exhibition, if that is what you wish. Please… attack me with a fire-jutsu."

Sasuke slowly stood, a predatory smirk now pulling at his mouth as he looked focused on the old man. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Do not worry, you will not hurt me."

Sasuke's smirk grew before quickly going through the hand signs and sending a giant, blazing fireball that filled the meditation room up with heat, and quickly burning away oxygen.

Sasuke watched as the flaming mass went toward the old man, expecting him to feebly dodge away, but it never came. Instead of hitting the man, the fireball began to appear larger to Sasuke as if it was coming straight back at him, and quite fast. Sasuke had to dodge to the side, falling ungracefully onto the stone floor. The impact sent a jolt of pain up his shoulder as the fireball dissipated above him.

Footsteps approached him and Sasuke glared up, Sharingan activated at the old man who looked down at him.

"That, Uchiha-sama, was an example of manipulating another shinobi's elemental attack with Yin-Yang." He explained, levelly watching Sasuke who was fuming with anger at the position he found himself in. "Let this also act as a lesson to not underestimate your teacher in this matter, even if it appears but a harmless old man."

* * *

Sasuke traversed into the main chamber commons still in a rather foul mood from his training. The only other person in the room he could see was Juugo, apparently playing with some small furry creature he had brought in from the surrounding forest. That was fine by him. Juugo stayed quiet and knew not to bother him.

Sasuke took a chair and faced it to the cave opening where outside rain was visibly pouring down, giving off the illusion of a waterfall. It would have been relaxing if Sasuke hadn't just spent hours trying to manipulate the flow of water. It almost seemed to be taunting him. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

Not long after Suigetsu entered the room, announcing it to the world with his obnoxious voice. "Yo, Juugo, you seen that medic-girl around? I wanna play Doctor. Went and got a booboo and everything." The pale boy could be heard chuckling to himself, apparently amused with his own supposed cleverness.

Sasuke didn't remove his eyes from the waterfall.

"Haruno-san isn't here, Suigetsu. She went on a mission earlier today with the one named Kisame."

"That ass? But he's a total douche. Why'd she go with him?"

"It was a mission. I doubt she had much choice."

"Feh. " A chair could be heard scrapings stone, signaling Suigetsu had taken a seat at the table. "I hope she's still in good shape when she comes back."

"You seem concerned about Haruno-san."

"I'm concerned about her ass."

Unknown to either of the group, Sasuke's jaw clenched. Hearing Sakura spoken about in such a sexualized way brought on odd thoughts. To him Sakura was a representative of a time long past and best forgotten. Thinking of her as anything but an annoying, clingy twelve year-old girl who always needed to be protected was aggravating on top of pointless.

And thinking about her here, in Akatsuki, lead to trying to understand why that little twelve year-old girl had gone and thrown herself into a pit of criminals. Criminals who probably wouldn't give a second thought to taking her life.

Reasoning it was beyond him. She was a fool. A complete idiot, not his responsibility, and not even worth the current distraction. The old memories she stirred were practically infuriating. He didn't want her there.

"When she gets back I plan on showing her little Hozuki if you get my drift." More chuckles drifted to his ears, and he found his aggravation growing.

"Suigetsu, I feel I must warn you; If you harm Haruno-san I may become angry with you."

"EH? Was that a threat?"

Sasuke's wasn't surprised at this announcement from Juugo. He had always been a kind soul. Useful only for his sheer strength with the seal, he was most happy just playing with forest creatures, going so far as to call them his friends. He liked protecting smaller, weaker creatures, so it was only natural for him to feel so about Sakura.

"Bah. You insinuating she wouldn't want it? C'eh. I don't need to force a girl to get it. They throw themselves at-"

A snap of lighting filled the air and a split second later at the table where Suigetsu sat, a burst of water was seen. Almost immediately his head reformed with a furious expression on his face.

"What the hell was that for?"

Sasuke was already on his way out the door. "You're annoying." Sasuke glared back. "Shut up."

That little release on Suigetsu has felt good to Sasuke. It let out some of his anger, and made it all too apparent Sasuke had not trained physically in quite a while. He needed to go let out some steam.

* * *

"Wake up, little kunoichi."

Sakura was brutally awakened from her slumber by having the wind painfully knocked out of her, causing her to curl into a ball, hugging her stomach where she was kicked. She grimaced as she glared above her where Kisame was sadistically smiling down at her. Angrily she sat up, sore from sleeping on the ground, but also from his kick, and still so tried because she had had a hard time of sleeping in his presence, on top of mud. She'd have to make sure that next time she slept near him,_ if_ there was a next time, she would wake before him.

"We'll be leaving in a couple of minutes. Get ready." He announced before walking off to the stream they had camped near.

Sakura was beginning to wonder if there ever was a time the blue-skinned man wasn't smiling. His smiles were disturbing. They weren't like Sai's fake smiles he used to try and fit in more, Kisame's were more… sinister. The teeth didn't help, but it seemed his sense of humor, the cause for the smiles, were just something she'd never be capable of agreeing with. He was demented.

Sakura had only just returned from doing personal business in the forest and washing her face at the stream before Kisame began running off in a blur of red, blue and black. Quickly she grabbed her pack and ran after him, afraid to be left behind.

They traveled without any breaks until the sun reached high in the sky. It was at this time, denied breakfast, Sakura found her stomach growling. Apples while traveling could only fill her up so much.

"We're close… I can smell him." Kisame grinned, mouth hanging open slightly as he panted causing Sakura to wonder if it was some scent tracking ability he had. She had read somewhere shark's had an excellent sense of smell, capable of smelling a drop of blood miles away, but that was in the water...

"Him who?" She asked, relieved to sit down if just for a moment on a branch nearby. She began to dig out another apple to help appease her stomach. If they were about to fight, she didn't want to do so on an empty stomach.

"The jinchūriki for the Hachibi, girl." He responded, not even looking in her direction. "Keep your wits about you, or you might get killed."

_Hachibi? _If she recalled correctly the Hacihibi was from Cloud village, the one Sasuke had apparently captured previously that had Cloud in an uproar against Konoha.

"But I thought Sasuke already capture him…"

"Feh, you can't send a boy to do a man's job. That pup was tricked. Not at all like his brother." There was another creepy smile. "Now Itachi! _There _was a shinobi whose blade you could be proud to be killed by."

She had forgotten that Kisame was Itachi's partner. She wondered vaguely how the two would have gotten along as a team.

Part of Sakura wanted to ask more about Itachi, about what he was like as a partner, his motives, but she was both afraid of the answer and letting on that she was curious about the Uchihas. Still, she couldn't help but be curious about Sasuke's brother.

But the Cloud _Jinchūriki_… Memories of her and Naruto's encounter with the cloud envoys came back to her, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth and causing her to lose her appetite for the apple in her hand. Sasuke had caused them so much trouble then by attacking the Jinchūriki, and now here she was, about to bring both Cloud and Konoha more pain. To cause more stress in relations between the two villages.

This time when Cloud came to Konoha, instead of asking for Sasuke they'd be asking for her. But unlike last time with Sasuke there wouldn't be any Naruto or another one of her begging them to hold back. Danzo already had a price on her head, she bet he'd even offer them the reward for doing away with her.

But what about the jinchūriki himself? He was innocent. Like Naruto, he just had the unfortunate fate of having a demon sealed in his body. She wasn't about to just help kill somebody, and she had seen firsthand with Gaara what Akatsuki did with jinchūriki they captured.

"What am I supposed to do?" Sakura asked, watching Kisame intently as he sniffed at the air some more air. The gills on his cheeks were fluttering and it was hard for Sakura to keep a straight face instead of grimacing. How did a person get those? Yeah, he had blue skin, but that could be a condition, something like Argyria for consuming silver for who knows what reason. But gills? She hadn't the slightest clue unless it was the result of some jutsu. Surely one of his parents wasn't a shark. That would be scientifically impossible.

"If Itachi's little brother couldn't capture him, you aren't expected to either. That's what I'm here for. I don't even know why Madara sent you with me, but he said something about it being a test for you. Just stay out of my way, and try stopping him if you see he's getting away. Doubt I'll need a healing, but just sit there and follow that and you'll be fine."

He then faced her again, giving her that unsettling grin. "Come along, he's straight ahead."

* * *

_.__花の雨ことしも罪を作りけり_

_hana no ame kotoshi mo tsumi wo tsukuri keri_

_rain of cherry blossoms-_

_this year, too_

_I've sinned_

_

* * *

_

_Author notes:_

_I've had a couple people voice their concerns over my writing Sakura as a bit weak, or well, underwritten. I have a couple explanations for it. First, keep in mind who Sakura has been up against in threatening encounters recently: Kisame, Madara, and Sasuke. The way I see it Sakura isn't an idiot, and she knows when she doesn't stand a chance. She's the brains of team seven, and the one who's supposed to be their strategic thinker. I love a fist flying Sakura as much as the next Sakura fan, but really, it's not going to work against Madara and Kisame. Sasuke is different. Taking away his obvious superior level to her in fighting capability, Sasuke is literally Sakura's kryptonite. That's just how I see it. Every instance in the manga whenever Sakura even hears Sasuke's name she goes limp or get's teary eyed and what not. I'm just trying to write Sakura as how I see Kishimoto writing her. I dislike it, and really wish he'd write her more kick ass, but alas, Kishimoto can't hear my yelling at him over it. So for now, Sakura is unfamiliar with her situation, not about to totally screw things up, and continue to not really be able to fight against Sasuke. He's her weakness. All she's worked for over the years always comes tumbling down when it comes to him. I'm going to play with this plenty more later as well has try and have Sakura grow out of it. I'm having problems apparently in expressing this so far in my fic, so I'll try to be a bit more clear on this later._

_Did I mention how much of a pain in the ass I find Sasuke to write? Seriously, trying to keep him in character and then figure out how I'm going to work in some character development with him is becoming a chore. He needs to quit being an psychopath. It's hard for me to think of him as anything but a psychopath since that last little run in with team seven. Actually, I guess he's been one since he started going after Danzo. Either way, he's nuts now._

_And just… Wow. All the reviews I got with the last chapter, especially findingjenny who gave perhaps the most spectacular comment/review someone writing fanfiction could ever hope for. You guys made me blush so much, and so now I'm deathly afraid of disappointing all of you. I don't think I can continue to please everybody, but I'm going to try.  
_


	10. Help I'm Alive

_"What am I supposed to do?" Sakura asked, watching Kisame intently as he sniffed at the air some more air. The gills on his cheeks were fluttering and it was hard for Sakura to keep a straight face instead of grimacing. How did a person get those? Yeah, he had blue skin, but that could be a condition, something like Argyria for consuming silver for who knows what reason. But gills? She hadn't the slightest clue unless it was the result of some jutsu. Surely one of his parents wasn't a shark. That would be scientifically impossible._

_"If Itachi's little brother couldn't capture him, you aren't expected to either. That's what I'm here for. I don't even know why Madara sent you with me, but he said something about it being a test for you. Just stay out of my way, and try stopping him if you see he's getting away. Doubt I'll need a healing, but just sit there and follow that and you'll be fine."_

_He then faced her again, giving her that unsettling grin. "Come along, he's straight ahead."_

* * *

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 10: Help I'm Alive  
(If I Stumble They're Gonna Eat Me Alive)

_.__散る桜心の鬼も出て遊べ_

_chiru sakura kokoro no oni mo dete asobe_

_

* * *

_

Sakura followed Kisame down to the bank of a river which was some distance away from a waterfall. If Sakura was there under any other circumstances she would have happily admired the lush greenery and gorgeous waterfall, but unfortunately she was about to be an accomplice to something she rather have nothing at all to do with. The feeling was distracting from the scenery.

"Ha, there he is." Kisame nodded out towards the waterfall where if Sakura squinted through the mist could see a large figure of a man. Even from this distance he looked huge and Sakura could make out the trademark mocha skin tone of the Cloud village.

"Do you think I should wait for him to finish his bath?" Kisame grinned back at her, clearly not expecting an answer from her. Moments later he was walking on the water towards the unsuspecting Hachibi. "You stay here, little kunoichi."

That was fine by Sakura who glared at him as he left. She'd have an easier time trying to figure out how she was going to assist the jinchūriki if she wasn't moving around in the heat of battle. Several scenarios were already playing in her head, but all counted on Kisame being a bit slow at noticing little nuances durig a fight, and Sakura wasn't about to write off the blue powerhouse as an idiot.

She could see Kisame now had the man's attention, but unfortunately she was too far away to hear their conversation over the roar of the waterfall. Suddenly in a second they were nothing but blurs clashing into each other. The Hachibi suddenly stopped and watched as Kisame went flying at him, diving through the air with Samehada swinging. The Hachibi managed to dodge before swinging back at Kisame who immediately rebounded. A few more swings and blocks were made before Sakura grimaced at seeing Samehada make impact on the Hachibi.

Surprisingly though, it didn't seem to drain the man like it had Sakura. The Hachibi had pulled back his fist and punched Kisame away, making him blast through the water, blasting water in his path, almost all the way back to where she was observing. Waves were starting to lap at the shore as a result from their fight.

Kisame was quickly on the surface, balancing out his charkra to stand, but the Hachibi was already running on top of the water for another follow-up attack. Sakura could practically feel her heart skip a beat at the very idea that the Hachibi could actually win the battle. So far the two seemed evenly matched, if not it appeared the Hachibi had the upper hand as he swung at Kisame again, putting the blue shinobi on the defensive.

The fight was getting closer to Sakura now, and she could get a good look at the Hachibi as they slowed down between attacked. She blushed to see that they had indeed interrupted him during a bath. He was stark naked, and fighting in full buff. Sakura, being a medical student, was used to seeing a male's anatomy, but it was a bizarre sight to see in a fight. Still Sakura, as any young woman would, couldn't help but admire the rippling muscles of his back as he swung another punch.

The gorgeous sight however was ruined by one glaring detail: The Hachibi apparently bathed in large, obnoxious looking tinted sunglasses.

They did not fit with the huge naked man.

It was about this time one of the fighting men started with water jutsu. Sakura braced herself, throwing her arms crossed in front of her and clenched her eyes shut as a giant shockwave of water hurled her way. The impact pushed her back a few feet and left her soaked to the bone but she gave it no mind as she went back to observing the battle. The Hachibi was shooting up into the air from the impact of the attack and quickling falling back down belowing, hitting the surface of the river with another huge splash. Apparently Kisame had finally landed a good hit.

Kisame walked up to the area of the lake where the jinchūriki had disappeared, apparently looking for a sign of where he had disappeared to. It was here Sakura noticed the monstrous sword Samedha was no longer in Kisame's hand. She vaguely wondered if he had lost his grip on it, causing it to fall somewhere in the water, but soon her attention was drawn to an area not far from where Kisame stood.

Waves around the area were steadily bubbling up and soon beginning to rotate in a spiral, forming a full on whirlpool. Whatever the Hachibi was building up caused the surface of the water to become too chaotic, and Kisame was soon floating in the water instead of standing, incapable of keeping enough chakra balanced to remain standing. All she could see bobbing on the surface was his head, causing him to look more like a shark that Sakura had ever seen him.

Her interest was drawn once again back to the whirlpool which was now pulsating upward into a waterspout, sucking up the water levels and even appearing to branch out and take water from the waterfall itself. Within seconds it was a huge giant mass hurling straight at Kisame and made impact with a loud boom. Kisame was sent flying far above her head, into the forest and further even still along with a large portion of water. The speed and length it took for a large boom to be heard told Sakura Kisame had landed practically a mile away. He may even require a healing.

Sakura looked back to the fighting area practically grinning to see the water levels had been significantly lowered. There in his naked glory stood Hachibi, as if nothing were even amiss. He didn't even look like he had a scratch on him.

A plan had already formed, and if ever was a time for escape for the Jinchūriki, now was it.

Sakura ran over the surface at the Hachibi. At seeing her he crossed his arms across his chest, apparently not at all embarrassed about his current state of dress.

"Run away now, little girl, hurry, be gone.

Or big blue shark man there may eat you like a prawn."

Sakura's was momentarily at a loss for words, if not a bit confused. Was the Hachibi rapping instead of just talking?

"He's not going to eat me, and you need to get away. Hurry up and get going! And while you're at it, it'd be great if you hit me so it looks like I tried stopping you." Sakura demanded, glaring up at the large man, trying desperately hard not to look below his waist for polite reasons. He was the only person Akatsuki had to get before going after Naruto, and she'd be damned if she let Akatsuki have him like all the others. They needed to hurry; it probably wasn't going to be long before Kisame came back.

"The great Killer Bee is confused,

And not at the least bit at amused.

You girl just ain't right in the head,

If you think he'll just hit you dead."

Sakura could literally feel a vein in her forehead popping. It may just be her imagination, but she could just feel Kisame getting closer. However the idiot before her, the idiot she was trying to save, was wasting his time rhyming lines at her, apparently unaware of the danger he was in even if he did just send it flying into the forest. He reminded her too much of Naruto.

"IT'S NOT GOING TO KILL ME YOU STUPID IDIOT! QUIT WITH THE CRAPPY RHYMING AND DO IT. DID YOU NOT SEE WHO I SHOWED UP WITH? THE BIG BLUE SHARK MAN! I'M A BAD GUY. HIT ME OR YOU'LL NEVER RAP ANOTHER CRAPPY RAP FOR THE REST OF YOUR NUMBSKULL LIFE!"

Sakura couldn't see his eyes behind the glasses, but the look on his face with a gaping mouth told her Killer Bee was confused, if not shocked.

"You don't need to be rude

It just shows you to be crude."

Sakura sighed frustrated into the palm of her hand. "Just hurry up and get out of here!" She motioned him to the opposite direction Kisame had gone flying to.

That the large man seemed to be satisfied with and finally, to Sakura's immense relief, began to run off. However before doing so he waved behind him to her.

"I'll be seeing you little pink thing!

Look me up later if you can actually sing!"

She watched in bemusement as he ran off into the woods, but not before first picking up a bundle from the opposite shore she suspected her his clothes.

"Oh god, if I didn't personally know Garaa I'd think it was a prerequisite for every Jinchūriki to be brainless!" Sakura commented to herself as she headed back to land and began rubbing a mix of sand and dirt against her body. Once she found herself to be an acceptable amount of filthly, she looked regrettably down at her fist before cringing and drawing it back.

This was going to hurt…

* * *

Sasuke walked up to Madara who was overlooking the valley from the small mountain that hid their current hideout. As far as the eye could see was the greenery of forest, dotted by random ponds. Unblemished land that rarely saw humans.

Sasuke was agitated to be called upon once again like a dog, more than likely to run another errand. What was more annoying for the young Uchiha was that he had now stood there for at least a minute, and still Madara did not acknowledge his presence. Sasuke knew Madara could sense him, so he was left to assume Madara was ignoring him on purpose.

"What is it?" Sasuke finally spat out.

"Ah, Sasuke-san. Akatsuki has received a special request from a rather high paying client. I need you to take it, but only if you feel that the task is within your abilities."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Did Madara think so low of his skills? "Get on with it."

"This an assassination mission. I know you're a bit… soft hearted in the taking of life. I'm unsure you can do it, what with your past attempts, especially in the case of Danzo."

Sasuke's jaw clenched. Was Madara baiting him to lose his temper?

"Though, inevitably, you'll have to get over to distaste of killing at some point if you plan on destroying the whole village of Konoha. However, if you're not yet up to the task, we can send that water boy of yours. Usually I'd send Kisame, but he's currently away with little Haruno-san."

"I'm getting tired of these errands you send me on."

"As much as I dislike tiring you, Sasuke-san, if you would have actually retrieved that wood user from the Land of Mountains I'd have someone else to send, but you failed. Just like you failed in attaining the Hachibi, which Kisame and Haruno-san are currently attaining for me. Just as you failed in killing Danzo when he was right before you. All you managed to kill then was that pathetic team mate of yours, and she rarely counts. You are beginning to disappoint me Sasuke. I'm used to Uchiha being capable of more."

Sasuke's temper had flared even if his facial expression had stayed frozen. It didn't go unnoticed by Madara that his hand now clenched the hilt of his sword.

"Distastes and abilities aside," Madara continued, "if we are to take out a whole village such as Konoha, we need more resources, and resources cost money. Accepting requests such as this is what Akatsuki does to attain that money. If it helps, you can think of it as mental training to help make you stronger."

Sasuke was glaring back, eyes now glowing red as Madara calmly waited for an answer.

"Whatever. I'll do it."

* * *

Sakura heaved a huge sigh of relief, as she half-dragged herself into the cave entrance of the Akatsuki base. Though she wouldn't call herself pleased to be back, it was a major relief to know she could finally rest after reaching her destination.

She had to admit it to herself, she might have overdone it a bit. She was battered, bruised, and if the pain in her side was a clue, she even had a few cracked ribs. All of which, unknown to Kisame, were done by herself, and not Killer Bee as he suspected.

When Kisame had returned from being knocked into the woods he was as furious as she had ever seen him. The Hachibi was nowhere nearby, and she was in a broken heap on the shore. As he searched the river for Samehada her partner had some rather biting remarks about how weak she was, all to which Sakura had to bite back a sarcastic smile. Someone who was weak in her opinion wasn't capable of inflicting as much damage to themselves as she had… then again, maybe it was just an early sign of insanity.

Still, needless to say with her injury and Kisame's impatience, the journey back was not at all pleasant for Sakura. She had healed the worst of it but needed to conserve a good portion of her chakra for the trip back. Kisame was annoyingly eager to return and report their failure of capturing the jinchūriki, and wasn't at all willing to slow down the pace to accommodate her injuries. It got to the point that he just straight out left her behind and it was hours later when she finally dragged herself, a beaten, tired, dirty mass, into the caves.

All Sakura could think about now was drawing a steaming hot bath in her room, and how fantastic it would feel to soak. She'd just have to make sure she didn't pass out in the bliss.

Unfortunately for her it wasn't long after she had began her soak that Zetsu popped out of the wall, frightening her with his sudden appearance as she desperately reached for a towel to cover up. He watched her quietly until she was done.

"What the hell do you want?" She bit out between clenched teeth. Apparently privacy was not something you had in Akatsuki.

"Madara-sama wishes to speak with you." The lighter half stated. It freaked her out how there were two of them, mainly because she didn't understand how it worked. Were they really two different people, merged into one? When this was all over and he was hopefully dead, perhaps she'd get the chance to perform a medical autopsy on his corpse.

"If I were you I'd dress first." The darker one sneered. She reached for an object nearby which just so happened to be a stool, and threw it in his direction.

"Get out!" She yelled and was immediately disappointed the stool didn't hit him. Zetsu disappeared in the last second before it made impact, and instead it smashed and broke into pieces as it hit the wall. She glared down at the splinters she'd have to clean up when she'd get back.

After gingerly dressing she headed through the dark hallways to Madara's chamber, a path she was not at all happy to be getting used to. Straightening her back as best as she could in her pain she took a deep breath before stepping in.

It was with heavy reluctance Sakura walked into the chamber. She used to think she was weak, what with Naruto and Sasuke always setting the bar so high, but comparing the memories of those feelings of failing to being in the presence of someone such as Madara Uchiha made those painful, angsty feelings of her childhood seem laughable. Indulgence on self-pity even. Frustration with not feeling equal with your peers was nothing in comparison to the frustration and fear of being in the presence of one Uchiha Madara. Here was a man who went head to head with the first Hokage and lived. A founder of one of the strongest clans in all of the shinobi world, and now also the mastermind behind one of the strongest, organized mercenary criminal organizations. Uchiha Madara could easily be called one of the strongest shinobi in history.

Sakura knew she was good, she was Tsunade's apprentice after all, but she didn't think Tsunade, even in her hey-day where she was at her prime in terms of ninja skills, could be a match for the ancient Uchiha.

So it was within reason to say that Sakura felt like her very life was at risk every time she did so much as blink in Madara's presence. Here was a man, who on whim could kill her in a moment with what probably would be close to no effort. She didn't have the endless chakra Naruto has, nor the skill and grace Sasuke has with just about every fighting skill. What she did have was crazy strength, but even more importantly, intelligence. It was that intelligence she was relying on here to keep her alive in a group in which most everyone easily outmatched her. However, unfortunately for her Madara apparently didn't get to be the leader and organizer of a super group on just brawn.

There sat her summoner on his stone chair which resembled something more like a throne. He sat it in relaxed, leaning on one knee as he watched her through the eye-hole of his mask. An unwanted shiver went up her spine at seeing him watching her as it usually did.

"Ah, Haruno-san, good, very good. Come closer. Kisame just finished giving me his report on the mission not too long ago."

Sakura took a few more but didn't dare get any approach any closer. Even if she knew it was pointless she rather not get within arm's length of him.

"Yes, you do look quite a sight, don't you? Put up a good fight I hope?" He chuckled darkly. "Needless to say, I'm not too happy with the outcome of the mission. However, these things are known happen, and this isn't the first time a jinchūriki, this one in particular, has taken more than one attempt to capture." He lowered his leg then, and leaned forward, erasing all airs of nonchalant. "There was just one thing I don't quite understand about it all… the Hachibi got away."

Sakura would have been a fool to not think this question would have been asked of her when she returned. She stood straighter, raised her chin, and looked Madara in the next best thing to his eye; his mask. "I'm here for my medical skills, not my fighting skills." She steadily replied.

"Yes, I'm well aware of what I said your responsibilities would be when I brought you in, but you seemed to have misunderstood a good chunk of the assisting us part. You see Haruno-san, I'm well aware of your abilities, or at least I thought I was. I thought with what I knew of them that you and Kisame would capture the Hachibi with no problem whatsoever. You see, I'm usually very good at predicting these things with statistics. Yes, you're known for your medical skills, but you're equally renown for having the same strength as your teacher, The Fifth, who is also a formidable fighter. In fact, if I remember correctly, it wasn't all just your medical skills that helped you defeat our dear Sasori."

"Chiyo-sama helped me defeat him. I was really just her puppet. Without her I would have died quite easily in the beginning."

"Yes, but a puppeteer's fighting prowess is only as good as their puppet's skills and abilities. When it got down to it you could have done everything Sasori's grandmother pulled the strings to make you do." He readily replied.

"Perhaps," Sakura calmly agreed. "But unfortunately I have many more years of fighting to experience until-"

"There is much in this game, Sakura-chan, I'm afraid you're missing." He cut off.

Sakura tried to keep her face blank from her confusion with where he was taking the conversation.

He continued on, his tone disturbingly appearing to have an edge to it. "I see everything that goes on within Akatsuki, and I know what goes on during every mission. Yes, I require members to 'report', but really it's just a formality. One that makes them think they have a little bit of my trust. That hypothetical trust of mine is something you've destroyed."

Sakura wanted to get out of there desperately by the time he finished that line, but even if she could it felt as if her feet were giant lead weights. She was rooted to the spot.

"I see I seem to be confusing you, and to spare you I'll get to the point. I know you let the Hachibi get away, and I know you didn't even attempt to stop him."

Sakura could literally feel her heart stop and her blood run cold. _How? _She was fairly certain her eyes had gone wide and her skin white as a sheet, confirming his claim.

"I must say, beating yourself up to the extent that you did showed some amazing self control. I like that, Sakura, which is why I'm going to let you make it up to me..." He stood.

"You have a choice in your punishment, kunoichi. You get to pick who I kill; your teacher, or your mother…" Sakura clenched her hands to her sides to keep herself from reacting. She could feel her nails rip into her skin as she didn't replace her gloves before entering "Or…."

Sakura didn't even see him move, but in the next second there was a metallic clang as a kunai fell at her feet.

"You can go with the third option." She swore she could hear a smile in his voice. "You can give me one of your fingers."

* * *

_.__散る桜心の鬼も出て遊べ_

_chiru sakura kokoro no oni mo dete asobe_

_cherry blossoms fall-_

_come out and play_

_devil in me!_

_

* * *

_

_A/N:_

_Finally, I'm at chapter 10. Wow. It doesn't feel like it for me, mainly because I'm not even near half way done with this story. (I also hit over 40k words with this story, so another reason why I'm happy) I suppose I have a sort of long-term plan for this, so please be patient with me! Still… so happy I've hit 10 chapters. Who'll be my 100__th__ reviewer I wonder. Thanks go out to medi, AMarinesGirl, Bulla49, _riptiderobin21, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, mistressinwaiting, xXNinXGalXx, and LaughsRFun for all the great reviews last chapter.

_Thanks for everyone who thinks I've done a great job with Sakura so far. However, while writing the last chapter and this one, and knowing what I have in store for our poor tragic heroine in future ones… I'm starting to feel I'm seriously abusing Sakura, and I'm sorry to say it's just going to get much worse before it gets better. Seriously, it's going to get brutal. I mean really, I'm feeling really bad for her, but I have all this stuff I want done (perhaps I'm warped?), and I KNOW when it'll get better, it's just… not any time soon. So please bare with me as Sakura's life continues to spiral into shit. It may even get a bit twisted at some points, but I can assure you the story will end … mostly happily. I'm not one who likes to spoil things._

_I'm sure a lot of you are going wtf with that last line there concerning Madara. You see… I have this thing where I like to watch gangster movies, and that includes Yakuza (aka the Japanese mob) films. Some of you may already know this, but as a sign of apology to their higher up when they fail the boss man, to show how sincere they are it's not uncommon for them to slice off a finger. It's the reason why some Yakuza, when they show up in manga, sometimes have a finger or two missing. I just thought it something appropriate to work into the story. Madara wants to teach Sakura a lesson via some gangster psychology. Pain's a great teacher apparently._

_Sorry about the chapter being shorter than usual. I haven't paced out some events that well lately, but hey, and update within a week of the last. That's good, no?_


	11. Precious Things

Hello readers, and welcome new people who joined with the last update. I'm long overdue in owing you guys a chapter, aren't I? I apologize for how long this took. I've run into complications with my plot (not to mention school), and hope I don't screw myself up with future chapters by not catching or remembering something I wanted in this one. If I do however I guess I can always "edit" this one and give you guys a note in a future chapter, no?

Also, for those who don't know, since it's used later in this chapter, Aniki is a Japanese honorific for older brother.

Anyway, enjoy!

… enjoy sounds so wrong for this chapter.

* * *

_"I see I seem to be confusing you, and to spare you I'll get to the point. I know you let the Hachibi get away, and I know you didn't even attempt to stop him."_

_Sakura could literally feel her heart stop and her blood run cold. __How? __She was fairly certain her eyes had gone wide and her skin white as a sheet, confirming his claim._

_"I must say, beating yourself up to the extent that you did showed some amazing self control. I like that, Sakura, which is why I'm going to let you make it up to me..." He stood._

_"You have a choice in your punishment, kunoichi. You get to pick who I kill; your teacher, or your mother…" Sakura clenched her hands to her sides to keep herself from reacting. She could feel her nails rip into her skin as she didn't replace her gloves before entering "Or…."_

_Sakura didn't even see him move, but in the next second there was a metallic clang as a kunai fell at her feet._

_"You can go with the third option." She swore she could hear a smile in his voice. "You can give me one of your fingers."_

_

* * *

_

**The Killing Moon**

Chapter 11: Precious Things

_.__花の陰此世をさみす人も有_

_hana no kage kono yo wo samisu hito mo ari_

_

* * *

_

"A… finger?" Sakura repeated back, hoping she had heard wrong. As she asked she subconsciously clutched at her hand.

"Yes, you heard me correctly." Madara answered. "The life of either your mother, or your master, or one of your delicate little medic fingers. I would think the choice would be an easy one, but then again you wouldn't be the first member of Akatsuki to choose themselves over their mother…"

"You… want me to cut off one of my fingers?" A heavy feeling was building at the pit of her stomach, and she found herself nervously swallowing; a wave of cottonmouth had hit.

He chuckled back through the darkness. "How else am I supposed to have it?"

Sakura set her jaw firm as she looked down at the kunai resting harmlessly on the stone floor. Like Madara said- the choice was simple – cut off a digit, or it'd be the end of life for one of her loved ones. Really, she didn't even have to think about her options; Haruno Sakura was going to lose a finger.

She knew what she had to do, but her mind was reeling with questions; What finger would she cut off? A pinky or ring-finger off her left hand would perhaps be the least missed.

Could she do the cut in one clean swipe? Kunai weren't usually sharp enough for cutting smoothly through something like bone. Did that mean she would jaggedly, painfully hack at it? Was the kunai even sharp? She wouldn't put it past Madara for playing some sort of demented joke on her by giving her such a order with a dull blade.

In her medic mindset it made more sense to her to go for a joint on her knuckle instead of straight through the bone of her finger. A joint meant easier, sinewy tissue – easier to cut, possibly less pain if she could be swift and clean about the cut.

Sakura wondered vaguely how much blood there would be. It wouldn't be touching anywhere near an artery, but still - she was about to remove a small appendage. She had preformed amputations to patients previously but never had she thought that one day she would be forced to do one to herself.

As the rush of thoughts slowed to acceptance Sakura reached down for the kunai, willing her arm to stay steady as she lifted the weapon. Usually a kunai was comfortable in her hand, as it should be with any ninja – she had been training with one since her first day at the academy.

_A good ninja should treat a kunai like an extension of their body. A good ninja…_

A brief memory of Naruto suddenly crossed her mind of when they were Genin on their first mission. He thought himself poisoned, and ever the one to jump to action before thinking- stabbed himself in the hand to bleed the poison out. If she recalled correctly she had called him a masochist for the act.

A brief smirk pulled at her lips- The very memory of Naruto helped bring calm to her panicked thoughts. If Naruto at age twelve could pull off something similar to this, why the hell couldn't she now? The smile grew at realizing that though Naruto was far from her here he was still giving her strength.

_You can do this!_

Sakura took a deep steady breath before slowly lifting the knife. Holding her breath in she set her tongue back in her mouth to make sure she didn't bite down on it when the pain hit her, and with that she thrusted her arm down.

With a quick downward motion fueled with a force of chakra she managed to slice off the digit with clean stab downward through the knuckle. A sickening pop could be heard through the room, but it went unnoticed by Sakura as the sudden wave of pain made her light-headed. Still, she forced herself to ignore the pain, pushing it back away in her mind along with the woozy lightheaded feeling the blood loss was causing. She could worry about them later; she refused to faint in front of Madara whom all her instincts were screaming was watching her ever move. Ever so carefully she bent forward and picked up her finger that was resting on an ever-growing puddle of blood.

It was odd holding it. She began to wonder if it was the loss of blood that made her feel so disconnected or if it was shock, because it hadn't seem to register yet that she was missing a finger. What now sat in her palm had been with her, a part of her since before she was born, and now it was separate. That was when she noticed the steady stream of blood being emitted from the wound, and her eyes started, mesmerized at the drops that looked black in the dim lighting of the cave. They dripped down, onto the stones like dark, thick rain drops, before splattering out in an oddly beautiful pattern.

"Bravo, Haruno-san. Your Shishou would be proud."

The interruption helped Sakura gain control of her thoughts again with a slight shake of her head. Clenching onto the warm, slick finger she lifted her eyes to him and presented with a now bloody hand the offering. She had to bite the inside of her cheek as she became aware of the pain again.

Madara was still where she had left him, reclining in his chair, calmly watching her as he rested on a hand. "I must admit I'm impressed. I was at the very least expecting you to cry."

"Are you going to take it or not?" Sakura practically growled. The pain was beginning to get to her, and added with the blood loss she was starting to wonder if she was only standing at that moment due to sheer willpower.

"Now what would I do with a finger?" He replied back with an air of sick innocence.

Sakura's eyebrows bolted up before immediately crashing down into a glare. She had just opened her mouth, now no longer caring what he thought of her and about to let him know in colorful words when he cut her off-

"Go ahead and re-attach it." He lazily flicked a hand through the air at her. "Just remember Haruno-san, next time I may not let you have your finger back, or I may not give you the option at all."

Sakura clutched her now cooling finger to her chest as his words sunk it. She didn't know whether to be elated or furious, but either way she didn't trust herself to speak.

"You're dismissed. And tell one of the lowers to get in here and clean up this mess. You've bleed all over my floor."

* * *

Sasuke's face didn't twitch from its stone setting as he slowly pulled the sword out of the target's body. The movement sent a sickening wet splurch through the room, but no one else was there to hear it.

Sasuke took a silent, calm breath before cleaning his blade by a single flick of the wrist that sent streak of blood splatter against the shouji walls.

As he watched the blood slowly began to drip down the rice paper he thought back to the body now cooling before him. He understood the consequences of his actions, and had come to believe he accepted them. He had willingly taken the life of someone who for all he knew was an innocent.

It was a step that until now he had yet to take. That was the only reason he accepted the assassination mission.

Karin's death had disturbed his inner thoughts for some days now, but such annoying tangents were easily quelled when he brought to mind who she was; A shinobi who willingly joined his team, accepted the risks, and knew from the beginning that death was a possibility. She was also a loyal subject to Orochimaru, and someone he knew to have not previously hesitated to taking the lives of innocents, or for that matter torturing them. Karin cared for no one other than herself. Her obsession with him was based on nothing more than her attraction to power. She had been far from innocent.

When it came down to it the want of power was about the only thing they had in common. For Karin, he was that path. For him however, the taking of this life was the next step in that pursuit.

Sasuke coldly stared down at the body that lay on the white futon that was quickly growing red from the blood seeping into it. The bloody trinkle was It was now moving on, dripping down onto the shiny hard-wood floors forming the beginnings of puddle at his feet. Sasuke took a small step back to avoid contact with it.

His eyes narrowed as he watched it, his mind a busy mess as his body stood still.

Sasuke had thought that the act of taking this man's life would change something in him, would make things easier. He had actually looked forward to killing off what little voice may have remained inside, the conscience that up to that point had held his blade back from taking a life. He had hoped that the action would finally rid him of all emotion and in turn, finally turn him into the avenger the holocaust of his clan demanded.

Instead of a weight lifted off his shoulders, he felt confusion as he continued to study the blood on the floor. It was spreading.

He felt no different, but he also had yet to feel regret for taking the man's life. Was he now apathetic to the death of an innocent by his own hand? Did this feeling mean he had succeeded? That he would no longer be held back by such feeling as empathy, or guilt?

His furrowed brow shot up as his concentration was broken as a sound from the corner of the room attracted his attention. He spun around to watch as a small figure walked in through the doorway; the figure froze rigid at the sight of the body on the floor, and of course Sasuke.

"Fa… Father?" The small voice called out, stepping into the light. The moonlight through the doors illuminated their white sleeping robe, and Sasuke's hand clenched his sword at seeing he was once again encountering a child.

"Father!" The child cried out again, falling to the floor at the body, seemingly oblivious to the blood they were now sitting in as they shook at their father's shoulder.

Blood now soaked into the child's robe and stained their hands. "Father… please!" He cried, as Sasuke now was sure it was a little boy. He couldn't pull away for some reason as he watched the child begin crying, dark hair covering his eyes.

"What have you done, Aniki?" The child suddenly yelled at him, staring at him with wide, frightened tear-filled eyes, and Sasuke went rigid to see he was starting back at the blood smeared face of his younger self.

Sasuke staggered back as the child continued to cry out. "Father!" The boy leaned into his dead father now, his whole body shaking in sobs. Sasuke had stepped forward, his hand instantly reaching out, but he stopped suddenly as he noticed his whole forearm was drenched in blood, dripping long heavy drops to the floor.

"They're dead! They're all dead!" The boy continued to cry.

Sasuke was frozen as the blood at his feet seemed to increase with the flood of memories that were now hitting him.

"Aniki!"

Sasuke spun around to the doorway, just in time to watch as his brother's ANBU tanto was tugged away from the body of his father who was draped over his mother protectively. In a flash of shadows, his brother was gone. Blood was steadily streaming from the bodies, quickly filling up the floor and spreading rapidly across the walls and up to the ceiling. Everything was turning dark red.

"Hate…" Sasuke spun around to come face to face with his brother who stared down at him, bloody and ragged, and looking on the verge of collapse like he last saw him during their final fight. His brother now smiled down at him with a thin trail of blood trickling from the edge of his mouth signaling internal bleeding.

"Hate…" His brother repeated in the low mono-tone that still to that day haunted his dreams. "You're still too weak." Itachi smiled a crimson smile as he slowly lifted a single bloody index finger towards Sasuke. "You don't have enough hate."

As Itachi's finger made contact with his forehead, Sasuke's whole body burned before the world turned opaque crimson. In the distance, somewhere in the back of his mind he thought he heard screaming. If Sasuke was a bit more lucid it may have occurred to him he was the one screaming.

* * *

Sakura tenderly rubbed the ring-like scar that circled the joint of her left pinky. She was sitting outside, above the cave entrance overlooking the valley, attempting to relax under the light of a full moon and rid herself of the day's memories. However the silence only caused her mind to return to the newly pink skin of the scar that seemed to glow in the moonlight.

If Sakura truly wished, she could have reattached the finger, scar-free, but deep down she felt that it was a fitting punishment, a sign that she was no longer untarnished.

Yes, she had scars, such as the large one left on her abdomen from the fight with Sasori, but that was a battle wound she could be proud of. This? This was what happened when she let herself be manipulated by others, when she let her values as a shinobi be trampled on. This would be a permanent reminder of the sins she committed while in Akatsuki.

_You can't help your friends dead, now can you?_

Sakura really wished she could just run away, and never look back. Run away from those caves, Madara, the orders, threats, and…

"Sasuke…"

With a heavy sigh she lifted her head and stared at the moon, resting heavy and full above her, and tinted red. Some would say it was a bad omen.

Had it really only been a month since her life started to unravel. Since she faced him, thinking she could kill him in that clearing? Since Naruto had gone missing, and her being exiled…

She couldn't remember if the moon looked red then.

Two months ago she would have practically given anything to be near Sasuke. Now, she wanted to be as far away as possible. It hurt so much to be near him. He was so void of emotions, he felt almost inhuman to her. The only thing outside of his cold, stern appearance on his face was that anger, seemingly caused by her. Where had the boy she had fawned over gone? The one who Naruto could have go through at least three different reactions in under a minute? The confidence that hid playfulness? The pride, determination, the smirks, the annoying ego?

He was missing it all. Sure, the change could be attributed to him just growing up, but the way he was now, it all just felt empty to her. Empty and absolutely wrong.

It very likely was this place, Akatsuki, and Madara that changed him, and she feared it would soon be changing her. She tried her hardest to remain true to herself, but it seemed like Madara was doing everything in his power to have her go against her morals.

But what bothered her most of all at the moment was how did Madara know? How could he know she let Killer Bee go? As far as she knew, it was just her and Killer Bee at the time. Kisame was too far away to witness it, and as good of a killer Kisame was, she didn't think him capable of figuring out exactly how she got hurt. She wanted to know where Madara had gotten his intel so she could keep future occurrences from him.

The sound of crickets were beginning to lull her mind as she stared back at the moon.

She was beginning to find that if she just forced herself to stop thinking there under the twinkling of th stars she could almost forget. She could almost forget that she was now a slave to Akatsuki, that she no longer had a home, and that everyone she cared for was lost to her.

A rustling sound nearby brought Sakura out to look down the ledge into the valley below, in time to spot a figure stepping out from the shadows of the trees. Telltale spikes let her know who it was, and her heart grew heavy as she watched him walk out. Why did it hurt so much to see him now? She never wished so much in her life to going back to her childhood again, because if she he too would be one, and then she'd see warmth within him; life.

Her breath caught in her throat as he moved further into the light, revealing that he was covered in blood. She didn't even think before her body was jumping down the ledge, approaching him. She was worried that he was hurt.

She stood still as he continued his odd slow pace to the cave entrance. He looked to be dragging his feet, but she couldn't tell if it was due to exhaustion or injury. His eyes looked dead, and when she stepped in front of him he didn't even show signs of seeing her, he seemed to look right through her as if in a daze.

"Sasuke…?" She cautiously asked, unsure of the state he was in. He made no acknowledgement that he heard her, however he did stop suddenly, and began to look up at the moon.

She reached out for his hand, and gently held it only to find it clammy, and cold. She bit her lip in worry as she began to recognize other signs of shock.

"Come on Sasuke, let me look you over in the clinic to make sure you're ok." She gently tugged at his hand, cautious of his reaction. Thankfully he put up no struggle as she led him back into the caves and eventually to the clinic. Once there she quickly shut the door and left him standing in the middle of the room, looking just as lost as she had found him as she dug through the drawers for a penlight.

Finding the object of her search, she turned and studied him one more time. It was disturbing to see so much blood on him that contrasted sharply with his otherwise white shirt. From her angle the Uchiha crest on his back was smothered in blood. The blood however wasn't what worried her the most, she was fairly certain it wasn't hism; what worried her was his expression. The last time she had seen that look on his face was when he was in the hospital after the fight with Garaa. He looked tired, almost relaxed even, but his eyes were so distant. Sakura knew from experience those eyes could easily be hiding turbulent emotions.

She knew Sasuke had the unhealthy habit of holding in his emotions. When she picked up a book on psychology in her first year of training under Tsunade the experience had been like someone handed her a book labeled "Why Sasuke Acts Like He Does". The same could be said for just about anyone she encountered after, but for Sasuke, someone whose behavior had always confused her, it was enlightening. His sudden bursts of fury around her and Naruto before he left Konoha had been the result of repressing his emotions, letting them build up, never addressing his problems head on. At first she only wanted to blame the seal Orochimaru placed on him, but over the years she became less certain.

Sasuke in such a state could mean he had no control over those emotions he repressed.

As she approached him with the flashlight, her eyes drifted to the seal and noticed for the first time with wide eyes it was gone. Not a mark was left on the trapezius. How long has it been gone?

Her stomach fell suddenly with further proof that she couldn't blame Sasuke's behavior solely on the bite.

As she led him to the hospital bed to sit down he still hadn't reacted her to presence. He just sat when she pushed him gently to the cot. With a heavy breath she lifted the penlight and shone it directly into his eyes, half hoping for a reaction, but half fearing what that reaction may be.

His pupils were dilated, yet another sign of shock. And still with a light shining directly into his eyes there was no reaction.

Sakura worried at her lip as she pulled the flashlight away. Whatever Sasuke had gone through it very well appeared to be something traumatic in order to put him of all people into such a state of shock.

She set the pen aside on the stand, all while keeping her focus on Sasuke.

It wasn't fair.

It really wasn't fair. Of all the people, why did Sasuke have to continue to be thrown in such horrible situations? A person could only go through so much before they completely snapped. Sasuke had never done anything to deserve any of this. He had only been a small, innocent little boy when he witnessed the massacre of his whole clan, and then to go through hating his only living family and being so alone in the village... It pained her to imagine how lonely and hurt he must have been then, and with no one to watch over him or care for him.

It must have been subconscious what she did next; She had in the past wanted to touch him, but had never dared to be so bold, but there was her hand, lightly touching his cheek, slowly progressing to gently cupping it.

"Sasuke-kun…" She called gently.

Her heart skipped a beat at noticing a reaction in his pupils. "Sasuke…" She called again.

His eyes suddenly clamped shut, furrowing his brow as and she was roughly shoved away.

As she regained her balance she found Sasuke standing once more, glaring down at her.

"What are you doing?" The tone of his voice was tense.

"H.. Helping you." Sakura struggled to find her voice, but she refused to be cowed as his shargingan glared back at her. She glared back up at him, finding her ground. "You're covered in blood and I can't even tell if you're injured. I'm only doing my job."

"I don't need your help." He spat back, turning around and looking as if he made ready to leave the room.

"Sasuke- wait!" She reached out to him, grabbing an arm. That was the wrong move for her to make as she suddenly found her back hitting the wall, knocking the breath right out of her, causing her to wince in pain. She found herself pinned to the wall and was about to protest until her eyes met his. That was when all she could see and think was the color red.

* * *

_.__花の陰此世をさみす人も有_

_hana no kage kono yo wo samisu hito mo ari_

_in cherry blossom shade_

_there are even those_

_who hate this world_

_

* * *

_

_A/N:_

_I am so sorry about this cliff hanger. Really I am and won't say anything more on it. I hoped you all found the chapter entertaining enough, especially for you few non-Sasuke/Sakura fans I seem to have somehow attained. Hope I can keep it up._

_I've decided I'm going to try and make the realistic goal of one chapter a month with this story. If I find myself ahead of schedule with what's written you may get a bonus chapter in a month, but other than that, don't count on more than one chapter for now. I am so looking forward to the free time I'll have with Winter Break._


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